When the inaugural Players Championship was held in 1974, Jack Nicklaus was the winner, earning a $50,000 prize money payout for his victory from an overall purse of $250,000. It was the 54th of 73 PGA Tour titles that Nicklaus won in his career, and the $50K payday matched the largest check the Golden Bear had earned in a tour event up to that point in in the then 34-year-old’s career.

Fast forward to 2025 and, well, you probably know where we’re going with this. The prize money payout for the 51st Players Championship was exponentially bigger, with the overall purse coming in at $25 million and Rory McIlroy claiming the $4.5 million first-place prize money payout.

We had to wait until Monday to find award the champion as McIlroy (68) and J.J. Spaun (72) returned to TPC Sawgrass in the morning for a three-hole aggregate playoff. McIlroy held a three-shot lead at one point in the final round Sunday but failed to convert on short birdie putts down the stretch. Spaun, ranked No. 57 in the world, has one PGA Tour victory to his credit. He birdied 14 and 16 to tie McIlroy and had another look from 30 feet on the last hole to win that stopped just short of the hole. The playoff, however, was over fairly quickly. McIlroy birdied the par-5 16th hole to take a one-shot lead, then Spaun hit his tee shot into the water on the infamous par-3 17th hole and made triple-bogey 6. McIlroy took a three-shot advantage to the final hole of the playoff and cruised.

Back to the money list. With the ongoing schism between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf continuing to rage, the subject of money remains an underlying subplot regarding the uncertain future of men’s professional golf. Suffice it to say, the ramp-up in prize money at TPC Sawgrass has happened quickly. As we have noted previously, when McIlroy won the Players just six years ago, he claimed a then-record $2.25 million for his victory. This week, Tom Hoge, Akshay Bhatia and Lucas Glover tied for third place and each took home $1.325 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 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
2024: $25 million/Scottie Scheffler, $4.5 million

Here then is the prize money payout for any golfer making the cut this week at TPC Sawgrass.

Win: Rory McIlroy, -12/276, $4.5 million

2: J.J. Spaun, -12/276, $2.725 million

T-3: Tom Hoge, -10/278, $1.325 million

T-3: Akshay Bhatia, -10/278, $1.325 million

T-3: Lucas Glover, -10/278, $1.325 million

T-6: Danny Walker, -9/279, $843,750

T-6: Corey Conners, -9/279, $843,750

T-6: Bud Cauley, -9/279, $843,750

9: Robert MacIntyre, -8/280, $731,250

T-10: Collin Morikawa, -7/281, $656,250

T-10: Davis Thompson, -7/281, $656,250

T-12: Jake Knapp, -6/282, $556,250

T-12: Patrick Cantlay, -6/282, $556,250

T-14: Aaron Rai, -5/283, $418,750

T-14: Tommy Fleetwood, -5/283, $418,750

T-14: Denny McCarthy, -5/283, $418,750

T-14: Sam Ryder, -5/283, $418,750

T-14: Sepp Straka, -5/283, $418,750

T-14: Alex Smalley, -5/283, $418,750

T-20: Keegan Bradley, -4/284, $240,250

T-20: Ryan Fox, -4/284, $240,250

T-20: Joe Highsmith, -4/284, $240,250

T-20: Matt McCarty, -4/284, $240,250

T-20: Daniel Berger, -4/284, $240,250

T-20: Shane Lowry, -4/284, $240,250

T-20: Scottie Scheffler, -4/284, $240,250

T-20: Min Woo Lee, -4/284, $240,250

T-20: Max McGreevy, -4/284, $240,250

T-20: Stephan Jaeger, -4/284, $240,250

T-30: Harris English, -3/285, $163,750

T-30: Will Zalatoris, -3/285, $163,750

T-30: Russell Henley, -3/285, $163,750

T-33: Justin Thomas, -2/286, $136,250

T-33: Taylor Moore, -2/286, $136,250

T-33: J.T. Poston, -2/286, $136,250

T-33: Rico Hoey, -2/286, $136,250

T-33: Kurt Kitayama, -2/286, $136,250

T-38: Davis Riley, -1/287, $111,250

T-38: Justin Lower, -1/287, $111,250

T-38: Taylor Pendrith, -1/287, $111,250

T-38: Si Woo Kim, -1/287, $111,250

T-42: Jesper Svensson, E/288, $81,687.50

T-42: Mac Meissner, E/288, $81,687.50

T-42: Matt Kuchar, E/288, $81,687.50

T-42: Billy Horschel, E/288, $81,687.50

T-42: Tom Kim, E/288, $81,687.50

T-42: Hayden Springer, E/288, $81,687.50

T-42: Chris Kirk, E/288, $81,687.50

T-42: Ryan Gerard, E/288, $81,687.50

T-50: Jacob Bridgeman, +1/289, $63,500

T-50: Beau Hossler, +1/289, $63,500

T-52: Sahith Theegala, +2/290, $60,750

T-52: Byeong Hun An, +2/290, $60,750

T-54: Joel Dahmen, +3/291, $58,250

T-54: Camilo Villegas, +3/291, $58,250

T-54: Matthieu Pavon, +3/291, $58,250

T-54: Carson Young, +3/291, $58,250

T-54: Charley Hoffman, +3/291, $58,250

59: Jordan Spieth, +4/292, $56,750

60: Jhonattan Vegas, +5/293, $56,250

T-61: Austin Eckroat, +6/294, $54,500

T-61: Will Chandler, +6/294, $54,500

T-61: Chandler Phillips, +6/294, $54,500

T-61: Sungjae Im, +6/294, $54,500

T-61: Trey Mullinax, +6/294, $54,500

T-61: Cameron Young, +6/294, $54,500

67: Emiliano Grillo, +7/295, $52,750

68: Isaiah Salinda, +8/296, $52,250

T-69: C.T. Pan, +9/297, $51,500

T-69: Sami Valimaki, +9/297, $51,500

71: Rickie Fowler, +12/300, $50,750

72: Xander Schauffele, +13/301, $50,250

Main Image: Richard Heathcote