Records are made to be broken. In August, world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler of the United States unseated Tiger Woods atop the PGA Tour's career earnings list, ending a 26-year reign by the man long known as golf's emperor.
Scheffler won the Tour Championship, the final event of the PGA Tour playoffs, adding $10 million in prize money and moving to the top of the career earnings list with $130,390,661. That put him about $9.4 million ahead of Woods, who had held the No. 1 spot since February 2000 with $120,999,166.
Annika Sorenstam of Sweden, the retired queen of golf, also appears likely to lose her place atop the LPGA Tour's all-time earnings list before long.
Sorenstam, who won 72 times on the LPGA Tour, earned $22,583,693 over her career. Second on the list is Lydia Ko of New Zealand, a player of Korean descent, with $22,360,465 — $223,228 behind Sorenstam. Ko can pass Sorenstam with a finish of second place or better at the Lotte Championship, being played this week in Hawaii.
The Lotte Championship pays $450,000 to the winner, $282,976 for second place and $205,279 for third. Even if Ko does not overtake Sorenstam this week, she has a strong chance of reaching the top of the career earnings list before the season ends.
Golf's legends are being passed one after another by younger players, and records set by Korean players are no exception. On the PGA Tour, Kim Si-woo ($41,169,934) and Im Sung-jae ($38,712,481) have already moved ahead of Choi Kyoung-ju ($32,803,596), long regarded as a Korean golf legend.
Among Korean players on the LPGA Tour, Park In-bee still holds the top spot in career earnings. Park, who has 21 LPGA Tour victories, has earned $18,262,344 to date. That is $758,329 ahead of Kim Sei-young ($17,504,015), second among Korean players. Amy Yang ($16,851,701) and Ko Jin-young ($15,008,490) follow Kim.
Park, who completed the career Grand Slam and also won an Olympic gold medal, was recently named a finalist for induction into the World Golf Hall of Fame's class of 2027. A decision on her induction will come in December. If she is selected, the ceremony will be held next July in St. Andrews, Scotland, the home of golf.
