Money, money, money. For better or worse, it’s the underlying subplot regarding the uncertain future of men’s professional golf. And if you pay attention to social media, for worse seems to be far outweighing for better these days. If there is a tipping point regarding how much golf fans care about how much tour pros are making in tournaments, it feels like that point has likely passed.
That said, you can’t ignore that this week at the 50th anniversary of the Players Championship, the 144 golfers in the field are playing for A LOT of money. It’s just a fact; the overall purse up for grabs at TPC Sawgrass is $25 million, the most of any event on the PGA Tour. And the prize money payout for the winner is also a record amount, $4.5 million going to the last man standing.
And that prize money payout has grown substantially in a short period of time. As we have noted previously, when Rory McIlroy won the Players just five years ago, he claimed a then-record $2.25 million for his victory. A solo fifth-place finish this week earns you $1.025 million.
Indulge us for our annual review of just how much the prize money has risen—again for better or worse—at this championship over the years, seemingly more appropriate given the golden anniversary being celebrated this year.
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
Here then is the prize money payout for any golfer making the cut this week at TPC Sawgrass. We’ll update the post after the end of the tournament to list how much each player walked off with from Ponte Vedra Beach.
Win: $4,500,000
2: $2,725,000
3: $1,725,000
4: $1,225,000
5: $1,025,000
6: $906,250
7: $843,750
8: $781,250
9: $731,250
10: $681,250
11: $631,250
12: $581,250
13: $531,250
14: $481,250
15: $456,250
16: $431,250
17: $406,250
18: $381,250
19: $356,250
20: $331,250
21: $306,250
22: $281,250
23: $261,250
24: $241,250
25: $221,250
26: $201,250
27: $193,750
28: $186,250
29: $178,750
30: $171,250
31: $163,750
32: $156,250
33: $148,750
34: $142,500
35: $136,250
36: $130,000
37: $123,750
38: $118,750
39: $113,750
40: $108,750
41: $103,750
42: $98,750
43: $93,750
44: $88,750
45: $83,750
46: $78,750
47: $73,750
48: $69,750
49: $66,250
50: $64,250
51: $62,750
52: $61,250
53: $60,250
54: $59,250
55: $58,750
56: $58,250
57: $57,750
58: $57,250
59: $56,750
60: $56,250
61: $55,750
62: $55,250
63: $54,750
64: $54,250
65: $53,750
Main image: Jared C. Tilton