The PGA Tour has 50 official tournaments on its 2017-2018 schedule, with prize money totaling $342,050,000. There's a lot of money on the line from the beginning of the season in October to the end of the season with the culmination of the FedEx Cup playoffs at the Tour Championship in September.
However, not every tournament has the same purse. In fact, purses in PGA Tour events range from $3 million to $12 million in 2017-18. The smallest purse belongs to the Puerto Rico Open, played opposite the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play in March. The largest purse belongs to the U.S. Open, which saw its purse increased from $10 million in 2016 to $12 million in 2017 and remains there in 2018.
There are purses of every size in between. The four World Golf Championships events have the same purse of $10 million. The four FedEx Cup playoff events have the same purse of $9 million. The Arnold Palmer Invitational and Jack Nicklaus' the Memorial Tournament share the same distinction of the next-best class of purses at $8.9 million.
Only five tournaments have a first-place payout of less than $1 million.
Take a look at the full list of PGA Tour purses from largest to smallest.
2018 PGA Tour purses, ranked from biggest to smallest
Click header to sort
| DATE | TOURNEY | PURSE | 1st PLACE |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 17 | U.S. Open | $12,000,000 | $2,160,000 |
| Apr 8 | Masters Tournament | $11,000,000 | $1,980,000 |
| May 13 | The Players Championship | $11,000,000 | $1,980,000 |
| Aug 12 | PGA Championship | $10,500,000 | $1,890,000 |
| Jul 22 | The Open Championship (British Open) | $10,025,000 | $1,804,500 |
| Aug 5 | WGC-Bridgestone Invitational | $10,000,000 | $1,700,000 |
| Mar 25 | WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play | $10,000,000 | $1,700,000 |
| Mar 4 | WGC-Mexico Championship | $10,000,000 | $1,700,000 |
| Oct 22 | The CJ Cup at Nine Bridges | $9,250,000 | $1,665,000 |
| Oct 29 | WGC-HSBC Champions | $9,750,000 | $1,660,000 |
| Aug 6 | The Northern Trust | $9,000,000 | $1,620,000 |
| Sep 9 | BMW Championship | $9,000,000 | $1,620,000 |
| Sep 23 | Tour Championship | $9,000,000 | $1,620,000 |
| Sep 3 | Dell Technologies Championship | $9,000,000 | $1,620,000 |
| Jun 3 | The Memorial Tournament | $8,900,000 | $1,602,000 |
| Mar 18 | Arnold Palmer Invitational | $8,900,000 | $1,602,000 |
| May 20 | AT&T Byron Nelson | $7,700,000 | $1,386,000 |
| May 6 | Wells Fargo Championship | $7,700,000 | $1,386,000 |
| Feb 11 | AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am | $7,400,000 | $1,332,000 |
| Feb 18 | Genesis Open | $7,200,000 | $1,296,000 |
| Apr 30[n 2] | Zurich Classic | $7,200,000 | $1,296,000 |
| Jul 1 | The National | $7,100,000 | $1,278,000 |
| Jul 8 | Greenbrier Classic | $7,100,000 | $1,278,000 |
| May 27 | Ft. Worth Invitational | $7,100,000 | $1,278,000 |
| Apr 1 | Houston Open | $7,000,000 | $1,260,000 |
| Jun 23 | Travelers Championship | $7,000,000 | $1,260,000 |
| Nov 12 | OHL Classic | $7,000,000 | $1,260,000 |
| Oct 15 | CIMB Classic | $7,000,000 | $1,260,000 |
| Feb 4 | Waste Management Phoenix Open | $6,900,000 | $1,242,000 |
| Jan 28 | Farmers Insurance Open | $6,900,000 | $1,242,000 |
| Nov 6 | Shriners Hospitals for Children Open | $6,800,000 | $1,224,000 |
| Apr 15 | RBC Heritage | $6,700,000 | $1,206,000 |
| Feb 25 | The Honda Classic | $6,600,000 | $1,188,000 |
| Jun 10 | FedEx St. Jude Classic | $6,600,000 | $1,188,000 |
| Mar 11 | Valspar Championship | $6,500,000 | $1,170,000 |
| Jan 7 | Sentry Tournament of Champions | $6,300,000 | $1,134,000 |
| Apr 22 | Valero Texas Open | $6,200,000 | $1,116,000 |
| Jan 14 | Sony Open in Hawaii | $6,200,000 | $1,116,000 |
| Jul 29 | RBC Canadian Open | $6,200,000 | $1,116,000 |
| Oct 8 | Safeway Open | $6,200,000 | $1,116,000 |
| Aug 19 | Wyndham Championship | $6,000,000 | $1,080,000 |
| Nov 19[n 1] | RSM Classic | $6,000,000 | $1,080,000 |
| Jan 21 | CareerBuilder Challenge | $5,900,000 | $1,062,000 |
| Jul 15 | John Deere Classic | $5,800,000 | $1,044,000 |
| Oct 29 | Sanderson Farms Championship | $4,300,000 | $774,000 |
| Jul 22 | Barbasol Championship | $3,500,000 | $630,000 |
| Aug 5 | Barracuda Championship | $3,400,000 | $612,000 |
| Mar 25 | Puerto Rico Open | $3,000,000 | $540,000 |
| Mar 25 | Corales Puntacana Resort and Club Championship | $3,000,000 | $540,000 |
