19th Hole
The estimated tax Tiger Woods pays per day revealed
Athletes’ wages comprise much more than just performance pay.
The revenue brought in via advertising, promotions, television rights all count to their income as much as pure talent and numbers, and with US Tax Day just behind us, bookies.com ran the data to find out just how much tax these superstars pay.
- Related: Patrick Reed-linked Twitter account accuses Tiger of getting ’embarrassing’ preferential treatment
Taking 30 of the very highest-paid athletes, the moguls ran their income through the various tax laws in each of their home states to reveal the real winners and losers.
Of the highest taxed stars, the site reveals that 26 of the top-30 are NBA and NFL stars. Topping the list of most taxed according to the pure figures is LA Lakers’ LeBron James.
Forbes reports the 16-time All-Star pick to have earned $96.5 million last year, lending itself to a tax bill of $58.98 million, or just under $140k a day, his numbers exacerbated by his home state, California, the region with the highest income tax rate in the States.
Runner-up, Dak Prescott actually earns more, $107.5 million to be precise, but because he lives in Texas, a place with no additional state duty, he gets away with paying around $42 million, some $16 million less than the NBA star.
Basketball dominates the rest of the top-five with Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook leading the way.
Once again, because of California’s tax rate, both Curry and Westbrook pay over half their salary in tax, combining to pay around $194k per day in revenue. KD, being in New York, gets away lightly with a circa $35 million bill on his $75 million earnings.
So where does golf fit in?
According to bookies.com, sitting just behind the top eight in the chart is Tiger Woods, the man that still moves the needle despite having played once in 18 months.
The 15-time major champion is estimated to have earned around $60 million last year, leading to a tax bill of around $65k per day, or $23.5 million per year.
Tiger’s great rival, Phil Mickelson, is the only other golfer in the top-20 of taxpayers, the man in a self-imposed exile paying $21.6 million in tax over the last twelve months.
Ok, so flip the figures.
The website then listed the top-20 players in order of their earnings after tax, demonstrating how much place of residency can affect net pay.
As suggested above, Prescott now leads the chart with an annual income of $65 million after-tax, with LeBron dropping to third behind Tom Brady, both taking home around $45 million.
Westbrook seems the most affected, another losing over half his income and netting under $28 million, but Tiger goes in the opposite direction, charting in fifth place and keeping over $36 million of his original 60.
Tiger may have a wry smile when seeing Phil’s name disappear off this chart but in comes Dustin Johnson as only the second golfer on this particular list – the number 11 earning $44.5 million and keeping just over $27 million of that.
Eye-watering amounts, for sure.
More from the 19th Hole
19th Hole
How much each player won at the 2026 Masters
Rory McIlroy made it two wins in as many years at Augusta National, seeing off the challengers on a dramatic Sunday to slip on the green jacket once again. The victory earned Rory a whopping payday of $4.5 million, with Scottie Scheffler his closest challenger earning $2.43 million for his sole runner-up finish.
With a total prize purse of $22.5 million up for grabs, here’s a look at how much each player won at the 2026 Masters tournament.
For players that did not make the cut, they still earned $25k for their efforts at the year’s opening major.
- 1: Rory McIlroy, $4.5 million
- 2: Scottie Scheffler, $2.43 million
- T3: Tyrrell Hatton, $1.08 million
- T3: Russell Henley, $1.08 million
- T3: Justin Rose, $1.08 million
- T3: Cameron Young, $1.08 million
- T7: Collin Morikawa, $725,625
- T7: Sam Burns, $725,625
- T9: Xander Schauffele, $630,00
- T9: Max Homa, $630,00
- 11: Jake Knapp, $562,500
- T12: Jordan Spieth, $427,500
- T12: Brooks Koepka, $427,500
- T12: Hideki Matsuyama, $427,500
- T12: Patrick Reed, $427,500
- T12: Patrick Cantlay, $427,500
- T12: Jason Day, $427,500
- T18: Viktor Hovland, $315,000
- T18: Maverick McNealy, $315,000
- T18: Matt Fitzpatrick, $315,000
- T21: Keegan Bradley, $252,000
- T21: Ludvig Aberg, $252,000
- T21: Wyndham Clark, $252,000
- T24: Matt McCarty, $182,083
- T24: Adam Scott, $182,083
- T24: Sam Stevens, $182,083
- T24: Chris Gotterup, $182,083
- T24: Michael Brennan, $182,083
- T24: Brian Campbell, $182,083
- T30: Alex Noren, $146,250
- T30: Harris English, $146,250
- T30: Shane Lowry, $146,250
- T33: Gary Woodland, $121,500
- T33: Dustin Johnson, $121,500
- T33: Brian Harman, $121,500
- T33: Tommy Fleetwood, $121,500
- T33: Ben Griffin, $121,500
- T38: Jon Rahm, $105,750
- T38: Ryan Gerard, $101,250
- T38: Haotong Li, $96,750
- T41: Justin Thomas, $92,250
- T41: Sepp Straka, $87,750
- T41: Jacob Bridgeman, $83,250
- T41: Kristoffer Reitan, $78,750
- T41: Nick Taylor, $74,250
- 46: Sungjae Im, $69,750
- 47: Si Woo Kim, $65,250
- 48: Aaron Rai, $61,650
- T49: Corey Conners, $57,600
- T49: Marco Penge, $57,600
- 51: Kurt Kitayama, $55,250
- 52: Sergio Garcia, $54,000
- 53: Rasmus Hojgaard, $52,650
- 54: Charl Schwartzel, $51,300
19th Hole
CBS’s Sunday Masters coverage slammed by golf fans
While Sunday was a dramatic day at the Masters, many golf fans were left feeling frustrated by the CBS final round coverage.
There were plenty of moments that golf fans took to social media to air their frustrations on Sunday over, including a lack of shots being shown throughout the day, being behind the live action, confusion over the approach shots of the final group on 18, and providing an angle for the winning putt where the cup couldn’t be seen.
Here’s a look at some of the criticisms that were directed at the CBS coverage throughout the day on X:



This has been a brutal broadcast for CBS. When the folks from Augusta sit down with them this year, you can bet they’ll talk about this 15 seconds where we have no idea where Rory’s ball went, and Dottie moans. #TheMasters pic.twitter.com/ak3mkpIN7V
— Ryan (@PossiblyRy) April 12, 2026
It’s rare criticism coming in for CBS, who are usually heavily praised for their Masters coverage each year.
19th Hole
The surprise club Tommy Fleetwood says is key to his Masters chances
Tommy Fleetwood goes in search for the first major victory of his career again this week, with the Englishman proving to be a popular pick at Augusta National.
Fleetwood’s best showing at Augusta came back in 2024 where he finished T3, and while speaking at his pre-tournament press conference, the 35-year-old emphasized the importance of his 9-wood in his pursuit of the green jacket.
Speaking on Tuesday to media, Fleetwood said:
“It’s a great 9-wood golf course. I think it’s always been — I can’t remember when I first put like a 9-wood in or a high lofted club, but it’s a perfect like 9-wood golf course. I’ve had that in the bag for a few years.”
The Englishman continued, revealing that his strategy for the week won’t just be to hit driver off the tee as much as possible:
“Yeah, it’s funny really because I know Augusta is probably associated with being fairly forgiving off the tee in a way, so you think you can whale around driver a little bit. But I don’t necessarily think that’s always the play for me. I think there’s holes that set up really well where I can draw it with the mini driver if I’m feeling less comfortable with the driver and things like that.”
That strategy he believes will make his TaylorMade Qi10 9-wood extra critical this week in Georgia:
“The biggest thing is the 9-wood for me. If I can put myself in position on the par-5s or the 4th long par-3, like it — for me, I can’t really hit that high 4-iron, so 9-wood helps me a lot.”

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