Top 20 - 2019 PDGA Pro Earnings

[Flick Maniac]

Originally Posted by Central Scrutinizer

The Walter Mitty in me still wishes I could hang with them. Ah, to dream! (...and to figure out the voodoo that would get me 150' more distance too!)

Gateway lists them to have amazing glide, yeah, but not 150 feet of extra

[TheOtherBill]

Originally Posted by Lazerface

Just less parity in FPO. Outside of McBeth, I think they just win at a higher frequency.

Do you think that could make up for purses that are 1/5th or less? My point was they aren't playing 5 times more events. If payouts were equal or close to it, that would have Paige taking home over $150K based on the winning-frequency theory.

If this is solely tourny purse totals, it's even more impressive. Too lazy to check if FPO world title pays $10k, but our local A-tier has $1500+ to MPO and at most $500 to FPO.

[biscoe]

Originally Posted by TheOtherBill

Do you think that could make up for purses that are 1/5th or less? My point was they aren't playing 5 times more events. If payouts were equal or close to it, that would have Paige taking home over $150K based on the winning-frequency theory.

If this is solely tourny purse totals, it's even more impressive. Too lazy to check if FPO world title pays $10k, but our local A-tier has $1500+ to MPO and at most $500 to FPO.

probably includes NT bonus as well but yes the thin field at the top of FPO definitely allows these 3 to make more dough than the vast majority of the men most of whom can find themselves on the outside of the top 10 looking in on any given week.

[etdefender19]

I’ll definitely keep my day job. JFC! I knew they didn’t get much from tournaments, and also they get $$ from endorsements and other means, but those numbers are shockingly low.
I’d have been fourth on the list with what I made at the public defender’s office fresh out of law school. Twenty-two years ago.
My flabber is gasted

[Discette]

Originally Posted by etdefender19

I’ll definitely keep my day job. JFC! I knew they didn’t get much from tournaments, and also they get $$ from endorsements and other means, but those numbers are shockingly low.
I’d have been fourth on the list with what I made at the public defender’s office fresh out of law school. Twenty-two years ago.
My flabber is gasted

You are comparing 2019 dollars to 1997 dollars. You would have been top of that list in 1997 with your starting salary. That entry level job paid you more than top three players combined in 1997!


Here are the earnings for the top 10 Professional Disc Golfers in 1997:



K. Climo $13,859.00
R. Russell $10,777.00
S. Stokely $10,109.00
B. Hammock $7,727.16
G. Lissaman $5,447.00
L. Leonard $5,292.00
M. Moser $5,183.50
B. Schultz $4,750.00
B. Rico $4,523.00
S. McDaniel $4,440.00

[DavidSauls]

Originally Posted by etdefender19

I’ll definitely keep my day job. JFC! I knew they didn’t get much from tournaments, and also they get $$ from endorsements and other means, but those numbers are shockingly low.
I’d have been fourth on the list with what I made at the public defender’s office fresh out of law school. Twenty-two years ago.
My flabber is gasted

Why are those numbers shockingly low?

How much revenue do those players bring to those tournaments?

[teemkey]

Median starting salaries by university major.

Rank Undergraduate Major Starting Median
#1 Chemical Engineering $63,200
#2 Computer Engineering $61,400
#3 Electrical Engineering $60,900
#4 Aerospace Engineering $57,700
#5 Economics $50,100
#6 Physics $50,300
#7 Computer Science $55,900
#8 Industrial Engineering $57,700
#9 Mechanical Engineering $57,900
#10 Math $45,400
#11 Physician Assistant $74,300
#12 Civil Engineering $53,900
#13 Construction $53,700
#14 Finance $47,900
#15 Management Information Systems (MIS) $49,200
#16 Philosophy $39,900
#17 International Relations $40,900
#18 Chemistry $42,600
#19 Marketing $40,800
#20 Geology $43,500

[Cgkdisc]

Note that Calvin Heimburg just got his Chemical Engineering degree maybe a year ago?

[DanJon]

This probably doesn't include sponsor bonuses for winning.

I wonder if any top players have sponsor match for tournament winnings?

[etdefender19]

Originally Posted by DavidSauls

Why are those numbers shockingly low?

How much revenue do those players bring to those tournaments?

Fair point.

I guess I just presumed that they made more than that. I literally had no idea what any of them earned in tournaments before this