Bubba Watson Net Worth: A Long Drive to Riches

The Bubba Watson net worth figure of $34.1 million comes from golf winnings and endorsement deals based on a long drive and dogged excellence. Watson went pro way back in 2003 and has since earned $46.27 million in confirmed golf prize money and another $21 million in estimated endorsement earnings from companies like Oakley, Ping, Titleist and EA Sports. A zero Florida state tax rate has held his tax bill to “only” $26.6 million. Okay, that’s a lot of money but if he’d lived in California he would have paid another $9 million. Expenses take another $10 million while investments add back nearly half that much. As of 8/12/16, Watson’s standings in the Rio Olympics are less than stellar.

Bubba Watson Net Worth Facts

Bubba Watson Net Worth Facts
Bubba Watson net worth$34,162,085
Bubba Watson net worth vs Jordan Spieth net worthHalf as big
Bubba Watson net worth vs Lydia Ko net worth4 times bigger
Bubba Watson net worth vs Tiger Woods net worth25 times smaller
Bubba Watson net worth vs Neymar net worth4 times smaller
Bubba Watson net worth vs Rory McIlroy net worthHalf as big
Bubba Watson net worth vs Usain Bolt net worthHalf as big
Bubba Watson net worth vs Donald Trump net worth152 times smaller
Bubba Watson net worth vs Lil Wayne net worthHalf as big
Bubba Watson net worth vs typical American family net worth503 times bigger

Bubba Watson Net WorthThe Bubba Watson net worth story is built on a long drive. 350 yards to be exact, with a top speed of 194 mph but there’s a metaphor going on here too. He’s no Tiger Woods or even Jordan Spieth but he’s no flash in the pan either. Watson’s long game is solid both on the course and in his career as a whole. Compared to Jordan Spieth’s net worth of $77.4 million, Watson’s is only half as big, thanks to smaller endorsement deals, though Watson’s career is nearly five times longer. Watson’s net worth is four times bigger than Lydia Ko’s, thanks largely to golf’s gender gap. It’s 25 times smaller than Tiger Woods’ net worth of $825 million and half as big as Rory McIlroy’s $63.7 million net worth, even figuring in that golfer’s wealth-decimating lawsuit. Olympians Neymar and Usain Bolt outdo Jordan Speith’s net worth as well. Neymar has $120 million or four times more money than Watson while Bolt has $71.4 million or twice as much. A man with 152 times as much money as Watson is presidential hopeful Donald Trump with $5.18 billion. Even rapper Lil Wayne is twice as rich with $62 million.

Bubba Watson Net Worth Timeline

Bubba Watson Net Worth Timeline

Bubba Watson Net Worth by Year
Bubba Watson net worth 2005$199,288
Bubba Watson net worth 2006$669,256
Bubba Watson net worth 2007$1,538,762
Bubba Watson net worth 2008$2,322,628
Bubba Watson net worth 2009$3,119,170
Bubba Watson net worth 2010$5,022,525
Bubba Watson net worth 2011$7,974,102
Bubba Watson net worth 2012$12,539,361
Bubba Watson net worth 2013$15,370,835
Bubba Watson net worth 2014$22,123,870
Bubba Watson net worth 2015$28,895,439
Bubba Watson net worth 2016$34,162,085

Bubba Watson net worth golfThe Bubba Watson net worth growth path is a tale of persistence and the American dream. Thousands of other golfers met with similar failure in their early years would have given up the ghost and in Watson’s case that would have been a solid shame. The golfer turned pro in 2003 and for the first three years of his career he barely broke $200,000 a year in prize money and landed virtually zero endorsement deals. In fact his confirmed 2003 prize money comes to just $79,854. While that’s great money for a 23 year old, many people the same age make more as engineers or accountants and they get nice benefits packages too. Watson’s earnings boosted to $144,000 in 2004 and $202,000 in 2005 but he was by no means on the golf superstar track. Not only did he stick with it, he ratcheted up his performance year over year, breaking $1 million in earnings in 2006 and $4 million by 2011. That year was a banner year for the golfer, when the endorsement-deal companies finally acknowledged he was here to stay. Watson began pulling down a modest but growing endorsement income in that year, which accounts for the steeper upward slope in the chart above. To date, Watson has made over $67 million, broken down as follows:

  • Golf winnings: $46,271,110
  • Endorsement income: $21,000,000

Related: Usain Bolt Net Worth

Bubba Watson Net Worth from Golf Winnings

Golf is the primary source of the Bubba Watson net worth total. Watson has earned $46.27 million from golf since the start of his career. He actually started his long earnings drive on the Web.com tour. That’s the PGA’s starter tour, kind of like the minor leagues for golf players who can’t yet break into the full PGA tour. Watson spent his first three years as a pro golfer on that tour, gradually increasing his earnings each year to the $200,000 mark as the table below shows. In 2006 Watson finally cracked into the full PGA tour. He never returned to Web.com, but he did add the European tour to his docket in 2007. Between both the PGA and the European Tours, Watson’s earnings gradually ratcheted up from $1 million a year in the mid-2000’s to the $4 to $9 million range in 2010 and beyond.

Bubba Watson Net Worth from Golf Winnings
YearPGA TourOther ToursTotal Earnings
2003$0$79,854$79,854
2004$0$143,820$143,820
2005$0$202,437$202,437
2006$1,019,264$0$1,019,264
2007$1,654,807$206,983$1,861,790
2008$1,533,523$70,223$1,603,746
2009$1,430,244$138,854$1,569,098
2010$3,198,998$744,429$3,943,427
2011$3,477,811$622,543$4,100,354
2012$4,644,997$2,274,116$6,919,113
2013$1,759,276$476,512$2,235,788
2014$6,336,978$3,310,591$9,647,569
2015$6,876,797$1,772,541$8,649,338
2016$3,020,497$1,273,502$4,293,999
Total Bubba Watson Net Worth from Golf Winnings$46,271,110

Bubba Watson Net Worth from Endorsement Deals

Bubba Watson EndorsementsWatson has earned an estimated $21 million from endorsement deals since 2011. Endorsement deals are the path to riches that almost always follows modern fame. It works like this: first someone becomes a celebrity. For Taylor Swift it’s because she’s got a great voice and tremendous writing talent. For Usain Bolt it’s because he’s the fastest human ever recorded. For Bubba Watson it’s because he’s a damn good golfer. For Kim Kardashian it’s because someone leaked a video tape of her having sex. Whatever the reason for the initial fame, the second step is to cash in on that fame with endorsement deals. As long as there’s no history of domestic abuse or other violent crime, that equation can double or even triple a star’s earnings. In Watson’s case we’ll say again that he’s no Tiger Woods. He’s not landing his own line of Nike’s any time soon. But he’s solid mid-list, pulling down lots of smaller deals with big and small companies that add up to big money. Below is a partial list of companies Watson has signed contracts with.

  • Oakley
  • Richard Mille
  • Ping
  • Titleist
  • EA Sports
  • Greenbrier Resort
  • Garia
  • eBay
  • Travis Matthew
  • Footjoy
  • Kentwoll
  • Schuco
  • Marquis Jet

Related: Neymar Net Worth: The Olympics Can’t Touch It

Bubba Watson Net Worth Calculations

Can our Bubba Watson net worth calculations be trusted? Let’s put it this way: Nobody knows Bubba Watson’s real exact net worth except Watson and his accountant. The numbers splashed about on the internet are all either estimates or outright guesses. That said, we know for a fact that Watson has earned $46.27 million in his lifetime from golf prize money. We also know what companies he did endorsement deals with and how big the deals were and we’ll stand by our estimates for those deals. We also know Watson lives in Florida and pays no state income taxes. He does sit in the nation’s highest federal income tax bracket of 39.6%, so we’ve included that calculation in the table below. We’ve also cut out 15% for expenses like agent fees and other costs and put back 6% of net worth every year for probable investment income. In short, our number is very probably the best on the web.

Bubba Watson Net Worth Calculations
YearBubba Watson Total EarningsAdjustments (Tax, Expense, Investment)Bubba Watson Net Worth
2005$202,437-$106,775$199,288
2006$1,019,264-$549,296$669,256
2007$1,861,790-$992,283$1,538,762
2008$1,603,746-$819,881$2,322,628
2009$1,569,098-$772,556$3,119,170
2010$3,943,427-$2,040,073$5,022,525
2011$6,100,354-$3,148,777$7,974,102
2012$9,419,113-$4,853,854$12,539,361
2013$5,235,788-$2,404,314$15,370,835
2014$13,647,569-$6,894,533$22,123,870
2015$13,149,338-$6,377,770$28,895,439
2016$9,293,999-$4,027,353$34,162,085
Bubba Watson Net Worth Totals$67,271,110-$33,109,025$34,162,085

If you liked reading about Bubba Watson’ net worth, try this post about Jordan Spieth’s net worth or this one about Lydia Ko’s net worth. All Bubba Watson net worth data in this article are based on our analysis of income streams, tax, expense and investment calculations, estimates and media reports and are provided here for entertainment purposes only.