Usually when we’re talking about the exponential bump in prize money payouts at PGA Tour events, we’re comparing it with pay days to events from 10 to 15 years ago. But you only have to go back four years to see how much the money has skyrocketed at the Players Championship. In 2019, Rory McIlroy claimed a then-record first-place check of $2.25 million from a $12.5 million purse. This week at TPC Sawgrass, winner Scottie Scheffler earned twice that much, a now-record $4.5 million, from a $25 million purse. He also moved back to No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking.

Indeed, the top five finishers this week (Scheffler, Tyrrell Hatton, Viktor Hovland, Tom Hoge, Hideki Matsuyama) all banked seven-figure pay days, a remarkable rise when you consider how the purse in this event has evolved since its debut in 1974:

Year: Total Purse/First place
1974: $250,000/Jack Nicklaus, $50,000
1982: $500,000/Jerry Pate, $90,000
1987: $1 million/Sandy Lyle, $180,000
1993: $2.5 million/Nick Price, $450,000
2000: $6 million/Hal Sutton, $1.08 million
2007: $9 million/Phil Mickelson, $1.62 million
2014: $10 million/Martin Kaymer, $1.8 million
2018: $11 million/Webb Simpson, $1.89 million
2019: $12.5 million/Rory McIlroy, $2.25 million
2021: $15 million/Justin Thomas, $2.7 million
2022: $20 million/Cameron Smith, $3.6 million

Twenty-six players made more than $250,000 this week, the total purse from 1974. All but three of the 75 players who made the cut this week earned more than $50,000, the amount Jack Nicklaus took home for his victory that first year.

Here is the prize money payout for each golfer who made the cut this week at TPC Sawgrass:
Win: Scottie Scheffler, 271/-17, $4,500,000
2: Tyrrell Hatton, 276/-12, $2,725,000
T-3: Viktor Hovland, 278/-10, $1,475,000
T-3: Tom Hoge, 278/-10, $1,475,000
5: Hideki Matsuyama, 279/-9, $1,025,000
T-6: Max Homa, 280/-8, $736,607.12
T-6: Justin Suh, 280/-8, $736,607.12
T-6: Justin Rose, 280/-8, $736,607.12
T-6: David Lingmerth, 280/-8, $736,607.12
T-6: Sungjae Im, 280/-8, $736,607.12
T-6: Cam Davis, 280/-8, $736,607.12
T-6: Min Woo Lee, 280/-8, $736,607.12
T-13: Collin Morikawa, 281/-7, $447,916.66
T-13: Adam Svensson, 281/-7, $447,916.66
T-13: Adam Hadwin, 281/-7, $447,916.66
T-13: Rickie Fowler, 281/-7, $447,916.66
T-13: Denny McCarthy, 281/-7, $447,916.66
T-13: Christiaan Bezuidenhout, 281/-7, $447,916.66
T-19: Xander Schauffele, 282/-6, $275,000
T-19: Russell Henley, 282/-6, $275,000
T-19: Tony Finau, 282/-6, $275,000
T-19: Brandon Wu, 282/-6, $275,000
T-19: Jason Day, 282/-6, $275,000
T-19: Patrick Cantley, 282/-6, $275,000
T-19: Jordan Spieth, 282/-6, $275,000
T-19: Aaron Rai, 282/-6, $275,000
T-27: Eric Cole, 283/-5 $167,656.25
T-27: Brendon Todd, 283/-5, $167,656.25
T-27: Danny Willett, 283/-5, $167,656.25
T-27: Ryan Fox, 283/-5, $167,656.25
T-27: Wyndham Clark, 283/-5, $167,656.25
T-27: Si Woo Kim, 283/-5, $167,656.25
T-27: Chad Ramey, 283/-5, $167,656.25
T-27: Tommy Fleetwood, 283/-5, $167,656.25
T-35: Shane Lowry, 284/-4, $114,166.66
T-35: Keith Mitchell, 284/-4, $114,166.66
T-35: Austin Smotherman, 284/-4, $114,166.66
T-35: Sam Burns, 284/-4, $114,166.66
T-35: Mark Hubbard, 284/-4, $114,166.66
T-35: Byeong Hun An, 284/-4, $114,166.66
T-35: Ben Griffin, 284/-4, $114,166.66
T-35: Taylor Moore, 284/-4, $114,166.66
T-35: Dylan Wu, 284/-4, $114,166.66
T-44: Chesson Hadley, 285/-3, $75,035.71
T-44: Stephan Jaeger, 285/-3, $75,035.71
T-44: Sam Ryder, 285/-3, $75,035.71
T-44: Brian Harman, 285/-3, $75,035.71
T-44: Kramer Hickok, 285/-3, $75,035.71
T-44: Garrick Higgo, 285/-3, $75,035.71
T-44: Taylor Mongtomgery, 285/-3, $75,035.71
T-51: Tom Kim, 286/-2, $61,416.67
T-51: Lucas Glover, 286/-2, $61,416.67
T-51: Cameron Young, 286/-2, $61,416.67
T-54: Ben Martin, 287/-1, $58,000
T-54: Matthias Schwab, 287/-1, $58,000
T-54: Jerry Kelly, 287/-1, $58,000
T-54: Will Gordon, 287/-1, $58,000
T-54: Gary Woodland, 287/-1, $58,000
T-54: Tyler Duncan, 287/-1, $58,000
T-60: Justin Thomas, 288/E, $55,250
T-60: Joel Dahmen, 288/E, $55,250
T-60: Maverick McNealy, 288/E, $55,250
T-60: Nate Lashley, 288/E, $55,250
T-60: Francesco Molinari, 288/E, $55,250
T-65: Sepp Straka, 289/+1, $53,250
T-65: Patton Kizzire, 289/+1, $53,250
T-65: Alex Smalley, 289/+1, $53,250
68: Davis Thompson, 291/+3, $52,250
T-69: Scott Stallings, 292/+4, $51,500
T-69: Taylor Pendrith, 292/+4, $51,500
71: Adam Scott, 293/+5, $50,750
72: Aaron Baddeley, 295/+7, $50,250
73: Will Zalatoris, 296/+8, $49,750
74: Sahith Theegala, 298/+10, $49,250
75: Kevin Kisner, 299/+11, $48,750