PGA Tour Golf Tournaments That Pay Out the Most Prize Money

At the highest level, golf is a lucrative sport. Winners on the PGA Tour almost always collect a $1 million-plus payout.

Throughout the season, a dozen tournaments cross the eight-figure mark in total money awarded, too. The marquee events are the majors—namely, the Masters, PGA Championship and U.S. Open—but The Players Championship and FedEx Cup playoffs also make the cut.

Especially at the largest events of the season, a single shot could be worth a few hundred thousand dollars.

The purse totals are compiled from various sources but reflect either the 2021 amount or confirmed 2022 sum.

• The Open Championship: $11.5 million
  
• Zozo Championship: $9.95 million
• CJ Cup: $9.75 million
• AT&T Byron Nelson: $9.1 million
• Wells Fargo Championship: $9 million

Four tournaments on the PGA Tour calendar have a $12 million purse with at least a $2 million payout to the winner.

In order, these are the Genesis Invitational, Arnold Palmer Invitational, the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play and the Memorial Tournament.

Two notable pieces stand out among this group.

First, both the Arnold Palmer Invitational and the Memorial are played at sites connected to legends. Palmer owned Bay Hill until his death in 2016, and Jack Nicklaus designed the course at Muirfield Village. Second, the WGC Match Play is the lone match play tournament on the annual schedule.

None of them are major tournaments, but each one narrowly edges out The Open Championship.

Jon Rahm's dramatic surge at the 2021 U.S. Open resulted in a thrilling victory and a $2.25 million payday at Torrey Pines.

Overall, the season's third major distributed $12.5 million to the field. Rahm and runner-up Louis Oosthuizen ($1.35M) both cashed a seven-figure check, while Harris English ($829,084) finished just shy of a million.

Both the 2019 and 2020 tournaments—won by Gary Woodland and Bryson DeChambeau, respectively—had similar figures.

The group of $15 million tournaments can be separated nicely.

Early in the PGA Tour season, both the Masters and PGA Championship doled out $15 million. The winners in 2022—Scottie Scheffler and Justin Thomas, respectively—each received $2.7 million.

That was a significant rise in both events. Previously, the PGA Championship ($12 million) held a slight edge on The Masters ($11.5 million).

The purse and winning payout will be identical for the 2022 editions of the FedEx St. Jude Championship and BMW Championship, as well. Those tournaments are the first two legs of the FedEx Cup playoffs in August.

Officially speaking, The Players Championship holds the No. 1 spot. We'll cover the asterisk next, of course.

None of the majors are even particularly close to matching the $20 million purse for the event at TPC Sawgrass in Florida.

The Players has consistently set records over the last few years, reaching $12.5 million in 2019 before ascending to $15 million in 2020 and 2021. The latest jump meant the tournament's payout has more than doubled in a decade's time.

Cameron Smith earned a record $3.6 million for his 2022 victory, while runner-up Anirban Lahiri ($2.18 million) and Paul Casey ($1.38 million) also broke one million.

It's fair to consider the Tour Championship an exception. Because it caps the PGA Tour season and FedEx Cup playoffs, the tournament pays out more money.

Patrick Cantlay won the Tour Championship in 2021, capturing the $15 million prize. Seven more players—Jon Rahm, Kevin Na, Justin Thomas, Viktor Hovland, Xander Schauffele, Bryson DeChambeau and Dustin Johnson—walked away with at least $1 million, too.

In total, $46 million was distributed once the FedEx Cup results were official after the Tour Championship.