It pays to win the US PGA Championship. Literally. PGA of America officials once again offered a total purse of $US11 million for the entire 156-player field. And for the second straight year, Brooks Koepka walked off with $1.98 million in prizemoney.
Not a bad week’s work.
The PGA Championship payout ranks third highest among the four men’s Major championships. At this year’s Masters, Augusta National officials increased the overall purse to $US11.5 million with Tiger Woods earning $2.07 million. The US Open purse jumped to $12 million in 2017, with the winner grabbing $2.16 million. In 2018, the Open Championship had a $10.5 million purse with the winner taking $1.89 million in earnings.
And the most lucrative purse on the US PGA Tour? That distinction goes to the Players Championship, where a record $12.5 million was doled out, and Rory McIlroy secured a first-place cheque of $2.25 million.
With Koepka’s win, he has now jumped into the top 50 in all-time career earnings on the PGA Tour, moving to No.46 with $US26,563,929.
The evolution of the prizemoney payout in the PGA Championship shows an interesting snapshot, too, at how slowly golf purses evolved over the years. Suffice it to say, when Tiger Woods entered the mix in the 1990s, it did much to help bring new fans (and new sponsors) to professional golf. The payouts from the PGA of America went up exponentially after his arrival in pro golf, as you can see from the information below. Here’s a look at what the payouts had been in the past.
Year: Winner’s Pay, Total Purse
1916: $500, $2,580 (first year of the event)
1931: $1,000, $7,200 (first year winner’s pay increased)
1953: $5,000, $20,700 (first year winner’s pay was $5K)
1958: $5,500, $39,388 (first year of strokeplay, also the winner’s amount actually decreased that year)
1965: $25,000, $149,700
1978: $50,000, $300,240
1983: $100,000, $608,099
1988: $160,000, $1,000,000 (first year with a $1 million total purse)
1993: $300,000, $1,702,750
1998: $540,000, $2,886,800
2000: $900,000, $5,031,100 (first year with a $5 million total purse)
2003: $1,080,000, $5,938,300 (first year with $1 million-plus to the winner)
2009: $1,350,000, $7,484,500
2014: $1,800,000, $9,913,000
2019: $1,980,000, $11,000,000
Meanwhile, here is a breakdown of the prizemoney payouts for each place in the field.
WIN: Brooks Koepka, -8, $US1,980,000
2: Dustin Johnson, -6, $1,188,000
T-3: Jordan Spieth, -2, $575,500
T-3: Patrick Cantlay, -2, $575,500
T-3: Matt Wallace, -2, $575,500
6: Luke List, -1, $380,000
7: Sung Kang, E, $343,650
T-8: Gary Woodland, +1, $264,395
T-8: Matt Kuchar, +1, $264,395
T-8: Rory McIlroy, +1, $264,395
T-8: Shane Lowry, +1, $264,395
T-8: Erik Van Rooyen, +1, $264,395
T-8: Adam Scott, +1, $264,395
T-14: Chez Reavie, +2, $191,665
T-14: Jane Janewattananond, +2, $191,665
T-16: Brandt Snedeker, +3, $143,100
T-16: Mike Lorenzo-Vera, +3, $143,100
T-16: Abraham Ancer, +3, $143,100
T-16: Lucas Glover, +3, $143,100
T-16: Lucas Bjerregaard, +3, $143,100
T-16: Xander Schauffele, +3, $143,100
T-16: Hideki Matsuyama, +3, $143,100
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T-23: Thomas Pieters, +4, $91,000
T-23: Jason Kokrak, +4, $91,000
T-23: Billy Horschel, +4, $91,000
T-23: Emiliano Grillo, +4, $91,000
T-23: Jason Day, +4, $91,000
T-23: Jimmy Walker, +4, $91,000
T-29: Paul Casey, +5, $65,000
T-29: Graeme McDowell, +5, $65,000
T-29: Keegan Bradley, +5, $65,000
T-29: Webb Simpson, +5, $65,000
T-29: Adam Hadwin, +5, $65,000
T-29: Justin Rose, +5, $65,000
T-29: Sam Burns, +5, $65,000
T-36: Beau Hossler, +6, $48,200
T-36: Haotong Li, +6, $48,200
T-36: Danny Lee, +6, $48,200
T-36: Rickie Fowler, +6, $48,200
T-36: Harold Varner III, +6, $48,200
T-41: Matt Fitzpatrick, +7, $36,035
T-41: Charles Howell III, +7, $36,035
T-41: Aaron Wise, +7, $36,035
T-41: Kiradech Aphibarnrat, +7, $36,035
T-41: Adam Long, +7, $36,035
T-41: Scott Piercy, +7, $36,035
T-41: Danny Willett, +7, $36,035
T-48: Henrik Stenson, +8, $25,750
T-48: Kelly Kraft, +8, $25,750
T-48: Bronson Burgoon, +8, $25,750
T-48: Francesco Molinari, +8, $25,750
T-48: Tyrrell Hatton, +8, $25,750
T-48: Tommy Fleetwood, +8, $25,750
T-54: Charley Hoffman, +9, $22,850
T-54: Justin Harding, +9, $22,850
T-54: Cameron Champ, +9, $22,850
T-54: Alex Noren, +9, $22,850
T-54: J.J. Spaun, +9, $22,850
T-54: Zach Johnson, +9, $22,850
T-60: Ross Fisher, +10, $21,300
T-60: Rob Labritz, +10, $21,300
T-60: J.T. Poston, +10, $21,300
T-60: Louis Oosthuizen, +10, $21,300
T-64: Max Homa, +11, $23,057
T-64: Joost Luiten, +11, $23,057
T-64: Corey Conners, +11, $23,057
T-64: Kirt Kitayama, +11, $23,057
T-64: Cameron Smith, +11, $23,057
T-64: Thorbjorn Olesen, +11, $23,057
T-64: Tony Finau, +11, $23,057
T-71: David Lipsky, +12, $19,250
T-71: Rafa Cabrera Bello, +12, $19,250
T-71: Lucas Herbert, +12, $19,250
T-71: Phil Mickelson, +12, $19,250
T-71: Daniel Berger, +12, $19,250
T-71: Joel Dahmen, +12, $19,250
77: Kevin Tway, +13, $18,900
T-78: Andrew Putnam, +14, $18,750
T-78: Pat Perez, +14, $18,750
T-80: Rich Beem, +15, $18,550
T-80: Ryan Vermeer, +15, $18,550
82: Marty Jertson, +19, $18,400
