The rapid rise in prize money payouts in golf have been a provocative topic in all circles of the sport. The launch of LIV Golf and its megamillion-dollar purses forced the PGA Tour to offer more as well, creating exponential leaps that in the short run made sense to stave off a looking competitor but in the long run created questions of fiscal sustainability. Meanwhile, caught in the backdraft were the major championships, previously sporting among the largest paydays in the game only to fall behind and have to make tough decisions on whether they’d increase their purses at a similar rate. New R&A chief Mark Darbon lamented the problem, noting the zero-sum effect that increase in prize money have on funding the governing bodies other initiatives.
Not surprisingly, then, when new PGA of America CEO Terry Clark met with the media for the first time on Wednesday ahead of the PGA Championship, he, too, was asked about purses and how much longer they could continue going up. The topic came with a subtle change in context given LIV Golf’s uncertain future now that the PIF won’t be funding them past this year and whether prize money payout had finally plateaued.
The specific question for Clark was what was his approach in general to making sure the PGA Championship continues competitive with its purse but staying financially responsible? Here’s his response:
“Yeah, it’s a balanced approach. … We’re really focused on all aspects of how do we improve and continue to look at improvement at the assets we have, including PGA Championships. This is a really important one. Obviously, it’s something we look at every year.”
A year ago, the PGA Championship prize money payout was a record $19 million, bumped up $500,000 from the previous year. However, that was third highest among the majors behind the U.S. Open ($21.5 million) and the Masters ($21 million in 2025 and up to $21.5 million last month 2026). The Open Championship paid out $17 million at Royal Portrush last July.
Clark did not announce how much the PGA of America is offering this week—that will come on Saturday after they make the cut at Aronimink. But he did say that the decision isn’t necessarily tied to what the other majors or even the PGA Tour with its $20 million signature events and $25 million Players Championship payday.
“It’s not always in comparison to all of those,” Clark said. “It’s what are the factor that’s make sense. We do look at it as an annual focus around how do we get at competitive purses.”
For the curious, here’s a quick look at the history of the prize money payout at the PGA Championship:
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 stroke play, 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 $1M total purse) 1993: $300,000, $1,702,750 1998: $540,000, $2,886,800 2000: $900,000, $5,031,100 (first year with a $5M total purse) 2003: $1,080,000, $5,938,300 (first year with $1M-plus to the winner) 2009: $1,350,000, $7,484,500 2014: $1,800,000, $9,913,000 2018: $1,980,000, $11 million 2021: $2,160,000, $12 million 2022: $2,700,000, $15 million 2023: $3,150,000, $17 million 2024: $3,300,000, $18 million 2025: $3,420,000, $19 million
The question then remains if the PGA Championship purse will remain at $19 million or go up. We’ll find out on Saturday and we’ll update this post when the news comes out. In the meantime, here’s what the prize money payout from a year ago:
Win: $3,420,000
2: $2,052,000
3: $1,292,000
4: $912,000
5: $760,000
6: $683,880
7: $640,220
8: $598,270
9: $558,140
10: $519,830
11: $483,360
12: $448,700
13: $415,870
14: $384,860
15: $355,680
16: $328,320
17: $302,780
18: $279,070
19: $257,180
20: $237,120
21: $218,880
22: $202,460
23: $187,870
24: $176,010
25: $164,610
26: $153,670
27: $143,180
28: $133,150
29: $123,570
30: $114,450
31: $107,160
32: $100,770
33: $95,300
34: $90,740
35: $87,100
36: $83,630
37: $80,260
38: $76,970
39: $73,780
40: $70,680
41: $67,670
42: $64,750
43: $61,920
44: $59,190
45: $56,540
46: $53,990
47: $51,530
48: $49,160
49: $46,880
50: $44,690
51: $42,590
52: $40,580
53: $38,670
54: $36,840
55: $35,110
56: $33,470
57: $31,920
58: $30,640
59: $29,550
60: $28,640
61: $27,910
62: $27,380
63: $26,920
64: $26,490
65: $26,080
66: $25,680
67: $25,290
68: $24,920
69: $24,570
70: $24,240
71: $23,940
72: $23,740
73: $23,570
74: $23,420
MORE GOLF DIGEST PGA CHAMPIONSHIP COVERAGE
PGA Championship 101: Answering all your frequently asked questions
How to watch the 2026 PGA Championship
Power Rankings: Every player in the PGA field, ranked
Tee times for the first and second rounds
Why the PGA at Aronimink is a great fit for Philly’s everyman sports culture
What tour pros do before a major to prep
Video: Every hole at Aronimink
Bryson’s uncertain future
The crazy story of Walter Hagen and the lost Wanamaker Trophy
The most ‘PGA’ moments in PGA Championship history
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
