Dustin Johnson remembers when $25K, let alone $15M, was a big deal

ATLANTA – All total Dustin Johnson made $20.8 million in winnings and FedExCup bonuses for the 2019-20 season. To put that context that’s more than all but 77 players have made in their entire PGA Tour careers.

For Johnson the more telling comparison is the earliest years of his career just as he was earning his way onto the Tour.

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“When I went through all three stages of [2007] Q-School and got my Tour card I think they gave me like a $25,000 check,” he said following his three-stroke victory at the Tour Championship which was worth $15 million. “I thought I was rich because I didn’t have but a couple hundred bucks in my bank account probably.”

In his first start as a Tour member the following year at the Sony Open Johnson tied for 10th place.

“It was a hundred grand or something [$113,000], that was big, and obviously that was a lot of money to me,” he said before adding, “I’m very thankful for FedEx . . . but it’s not about the money for me. It’s more about the trophy.”

Johnson is currently fifth on the Tour’s career money list with $67.5 million in earnings but that doesn’t include FedExCup bonuses.