Who wants to be a millionaire? Singapore golfer Shannon Tan nears $1m in career earnings

SINGAPORE – After less than two years as a professional golfer, Shannon Tan is on track to join an elite group of Singaporean athletes – such as Olympic swimming champion Joseph Schooling and football legend Fandi Ahmad – who have become millionaires.

Since turning pro in January 2024, the 21-year-old has chalked up several milestones.

She is the first Singaporean to win on the Ladies European Tour (LET), the first golfer from the Republic to compete at the Olympics and the first local female golfer to make the cut at a Major.

On Oct 12, Tan added another feather to her cap by winning the

Hero Women’s Indian Open by a single stroke

to claim her third title on the LET.

The victory earned her the winner’s cheque of US$75,000 (S$97,330.50), placing her on the cusp of another milestone as she nears the $1 million mark in career earnings – her total prize money is now at $998,340.

Crediting her sponsors for allowing her to fully focus on golf, Tan said she had not thought much about the number until she was asked about it.

She said: “It’s pretty surreal to think about it, honestly. I don’t really focus on things like that, but reaching this milestone is a nice reflection of how far things have come in a short time.

“It definitely motivates me to keep improving, keep learning and keep enjoying the journey.”

If she crosses the $1 million mark, Tan will join a select group of Singaporean athletes to have done so.

Fellow golfer Mardan Mamat, the first Singaporean to triumph on the Asian Tour, achieved the feat in 2004 when he was 36, through a decade of steady success on the regional circuit.

Before him, there was former Lion Fandi, who became Singapore’s first sports millionaire in 1992 through stints in Malaysia, Indonesia and the Netherlands.

Other athletes to have crossed the mark include Schooling, whose 100m butterfly triumph at the 2016 Rio Games earned him $1 million from the Major Games Award Programme, an incentive scheme to reward medal winners in the SEA, Commonwealth, Asian and Olympic Games.

Similarly, table tennis players Feng Tianwei and Li Jiawei also surpassed the $1 million mark from their exploits at the major Games and international circuit.

Para-swimmer Yip Pin Xiu,

who has seven golds at the Paralympic Games

, has earned over $2 million from her feats at major Games through the Athletes Achievement Awards (AAA), which is managed by the Singapore National Paralympic Council.

For Tan, her success follows an impressive amateur career highlighted by her victory at the 2023 Singapore Ladies Masters, a China Ladies Professional Golf Association Tour tournament.

However, as she was still an amateur then, she could not collect the US$15,000 winner’s cheque.

She turned professional in January 2024, a month after earning her LET card and quickly made her mark, finishing second in her first tournament, the Webex Players Series’ Murray River event in New South Wales, a mixed-field event on the Challenger PGA Tour of Australasia, the main professional golf tour in Australia and New Zealand.

There, she earned her first pay cheque of A$25,000 (S$21,380). Before beginning her LET journey, she played one more event in Australia, the Vic Open, where she placed eighth and pocketed A$11,529.

A dream start on the LET followed as

she won on her first appearance on the tour

, taking home the €45,000 (S$67,870) top prize.

Although she did not win again last season, four other top-10 finishes helped her end the year sixth in the Order of Merit (OOM), the season-long rankings to determine the No. 1 player on the circuit, with €191,807.61 in prize money from LET tournaments.

In 2025, the world No. 89 has taken her game to another level. With three events remaining, she leads the OOM, after victories at the Indian Open and the Amundi German Masters, alongside six other top-10 finishes.

She also achieved the

best finish by a Singaporean at the HSBC Women’s World Championship in March

, placing tied-34th and pocketing US$15,555 in the process.

On the key to her consistency, she said: “I started to incorporate a few new things into my routine this year, being more intentional with my gym and recovery work. The LET provides physiotherapy support, which I’ve been using more regularly, and my gym programme now includes more strength and mobility work.

“Both programmes are complementary and have really helped me feel stronger and move better, especially during long stretches on tour.”