The Biggest Purses On the PGA Tour
The PGA Tour is the most prestigious and popular golf tour and has the financial muscle to prove it. In 2021-22, total prize money won on tour will be over $470 million, including money won in the four major championships which are officially part of the PGA Tour schedule, but are run and funded by different golf associations.
Purses on the PGA Tour continue to grow each season. The Tour announced an increase in the FedExCup Championship purse from $60 million in 2020-21 to $75 million in 2021-22. The Players Championship, the Tour’s marquee tournament, will feature a $20 million purse in 2021-22, up from $15 million a season ago.
The following are the 10 biggest purses on the PGA Tour for the 2021-22 season. Purses for the 2022 majors have not yet been announced, so we'll use the 2021 figures for those four events. With PGA Tour winners taking home 18 percent of the total purse, it really pays to be on top of your golf game.
1. Tour Championship
Purse: $75,000,000 | Winner’s Share: $18,000,000
Coming at the end of the FedExCup Playoffs, the biggest award goes to the winner of the Tour Championship who is simultaneously crowned FedExCup champion. The $75,000,000 purse is considered a “bonus pool” by the PGA Tour for its season-long race. Either way, it results in a nice payday for anybody who finishes in the top 30.
2. The Players Championship
Purse: $20,000,000 | Winner’s Share: $3,600,000
It’s not a major championship, but The Players Championship boasts a significantly larger purse than any of golf’s four majors.
T3. The Masters
Purse: $15,000,000 | Winner’s Share: $2,700,000
Augusta National’s genteel course is known for its cheap eats for the tiny few who get tickets to the Masters each year. Despite not price gouging on the pimento cheese, the Masters still managed a $15 million purse in 2022, a head-turning increase from the $11.5 million awared in 2021.
T3. PGA Championship
Purse $15,000,000 | Winner's Share: $2,700,000
The PGA of America followed the PGA Tour's lead with a noticeable purse increase in 2022. The PGA Championship purse in 2022 ballooned to $15,000,000, a $4,000,000 increase from 2021, resulting in a $2,700,000 check for winner Justin Thomas. That purse puts the PGA Championship in a tie for the third-largest in professional golf.
T3. FedEx St. Jude Championship/The BMW Championship
Purse: $15,000,000 | Winner’s Share: $2,700,000
Elevating the purses for the first two of the PGA Tour’s 3-event playoff schedule was a staple of the Tour’s increased purse structure for 2021-22. Both the FedEx St. Jude Championship and the BMW Championship, which lead off the playoffs, will feature a $15 million purse in 2022.
6. U.S. Open
Purse: $12,500,000 (2021)| Winner’s Share: $2,250,000 (2021)
Famed for the difficult course conditions, the U.S. Open leads golf’s majors with a hefty $12,500,000 purse, as of 2021.
T7. WGC Dell Technologies Match Play
Purse: $12,000,000 | Winner’s Share: $2,160,000
The World Golf Championship (WGC) purses got a shot in the arm for 2021-22 as well, with an increase from $10.5 million to $12 million. However, the number of scheduled WGCs went from the traditional four down to three in 2020-21 due to COVID. In 2021-22 that dropped to a scheduled two, which was reduced to just one after the WGC HSBG-Champions was canceled due to COVID in October of 2021. Fittingly, that leaves the WGC Dell Technologies Match Play as the last WGC standing in 2021-22
T7. The Genesis Invitational
Purse: $12,000,000 | Winner’s Share: $2,160,000
In addition to the WGCs, the PGA Tour’s three player-hosted invitationals benefit from an increased purse in 2021-22. The Genesis Invitational, along with the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the Memorial will each have a $12 million purse in 2022, with the winners taking home more than $2 million.
The Genesis Invitational is hosted by none other than Tiger Woods, and is contested at Riviera Country Club in February.
T7. Arnold Palmer Invitational
Purse: $12,000,000 | Winner’s Share: $2,160,000
It’s great to be one of the 123-players to receive an invitation to the Arnold Palmer Invitational, which takes place at Bay Hill every year, with another $12 million purse and $2 million winner’s payday.
T7. The Memorial
Purse: $12,000,000 | Winner’s Share: $2,160,000
The Memorial, hosted by Jack Nicklaus, is the third limited field invitational with a seemingly unlimited purse on the PGA Tour schedule, teeing off in early June at Muirfield Village in Dublin, Ohio.
T10. The Open Championship
Purse: $11,500,000 (2021) | Winner’s Share: $2,070,000 (2021)
The world’s oldest major championship plays exclusively on the classic links courses of Britain and Northern Ireland, and boasts an impressive $11.5 million purse with a winner’s share of over $2 million, as of 2021.