Who was the first golfer to win over $1 million in a single year?

The first golfer to win over $1 million in a single year was Curtis Strange. He reached the milestone during the 1988 PGA Tour season.

Strange won the season-ending Nabisco Championships at Pebble Beach, receiving a $360,000 first prize. That victory lifted his official Tour earnings for the year to $1,147,644.

The achievement made Strange the first player to earn more than $1 million in official PGA Tour money during one season. It was a major milestone during an era when tournament purses were much smaller than today.

Strange was already among the leading players of the 1980s. He later won consecutive U.S. Open titles in 1988 and 1989 and became one of the period’s most successful American golfers.