The PGA Tour has 46 official tournaments on its 2018-2019 schedule, with prize money totaling $389,350,000. 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 August.
However, not every tournament has the same purse. In fact, purses in PGA Tour events range from $3 million to $12.5 million in 2018-19. 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 Players Championship, which now boasts a $12.5 million purse. The U.S. Open, which saw its purse increased from $10 million in 2016 to $12 million in 2017 and remains there in 2019.
There are purses of every size in between. The four World Golf Championships events have the same purse of $10.25 million, except the WGC-HSBC Champions at $10 million. The four FedEx Cup playoff events have the same purse of $9.25 million. The Arnold Palmer Invitational and Jack Nicklaus' the Memorial Tournament share the same distinction of the next-best class of purses at $9.1 million.
With the Tour Championship now representing the final event for the FedEx Cup schedule and having no purse of its own, it technically has a payout of $46 million for the 30 qualifying players.
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.
2019 PGA Tour purses, ranked from biggest to smallest
Click header to sort
DATE | TOURNEY | PURSE | 1st PLACE |
---|---|---|---|
Aug 25 | Tour Championship | $46,000,000 | $15,000,000 |
Mar 17 | The Players Championship | $12,500,000 | $2,250,000 |
Jun 16 | U.S. Open | $12,000,000 | $2,160,000 |
Apr 14 | Masters Tournament | $11,500,000 | $2,070,000 |
May 19 | PGA Championship | $11,000,000 | $1,980,000 |
Jul 21 | The Open Championship | $11,000,000 | $1,980,000 |
Oct 28 | WGC-HSBC Champions | $10,000,000 | $1,800,000 |
Feb 24 | WGC-Mexico Championship | $10,250,000 | $1,742,500 |
Mar 31 | WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play | $10,250,000 | $1,742,500 |
Jul 28 | WGC-FedEx St. Jude Invitational | $10,250,000 | $1,742,500 |
Oct 21 | The CJ Cup at Nine Bridges | $9,500,000 | $1,710,000 |
Aug 11 | The Northern Trust | $9,250,000 | $1,665,000 |
Aug 18 | BMW Championship | $9,250,000 | $1,665,000 |
Mar 10 | Arnold Palmer Invitational | $9,100,000 | $1,638,000 |
Jun 02 | the Memorial Tournament | $9,100,000 | $1,638,000 |
May 05 | Wells Fargo Championship | $7,900,000 | $1,422,000 |
May 12 | AT&T Byron Nelson | $7,900,000 | $1,422,000 |
Feb 10 | AT&T Pebble Beach Pro | $7,600,000 | $1,368,000 |
Jun 09 | RBC Canadian Open | $7,600,000 | $1,368,000 |
Apr 07 | Valero Texas Open | $7,500,000 | $1,350,000 |
Feb 17 | Genesis Open | $7,400,000 | $1,332,000 |
Apr 28 | Zurich Classic of New Orleans | $7,300,000 | $1,314,000 |
May 26 | Charles Schwab Challenge | $7,300,000 | $1,314,000 |
Jun 30 | Rocket Mortgage Classic | $7,300,000 | $1,314,000 |
Nov 11 | Mayakoba Golf Classic | $7,200,000 | $1,296,000 |
Jun 23 | Travelers Championship | $7,200,000 | $1,296,000 |
Jan 27 | Farmers Insurance Open | $7,100,000 | $1,278,000 |
Feb 03 | Waste Management Phoenix Open | $7,100,000 | $1,278,000 |
Oct 14 | CIMB Classic | $7,000,000 | $1,260,000 |
Nov 04 | Shriners Hospitals for Children Open | $7,000,000 | $1,260,000 |
Apr 21 | RBC Heritage | $6,900,000 | $1,242,000 |
Mar 03 | The Honda Classic | $6,800,000 | $1,224,000 |
Mar 24 | Valspar Championship | $6,700,000 | $1,206,000 |
Jan 06 | Sentry Tournament of Champions | $6,500,000 | $1,170,000 |
Oct 07 | Safeway Open | $6,400,000 | $1,152,000 |
Nov 18 | The RSM Classic | $6,400,000 | $1,152,000 |
Jan 13 | Sony Open in Hawaii | $6,400,000 | $1,152,000 |
Jul 07 | 3M Open | $6,400,000 | $1,152,000 |
Aug 04 | Wyndham Championship | $6,200,000 | $1,116,000 |
Jul 14 | John Deere Classic | $6,000,000 | $1,080,000 |
Jan 20 | CareerBuilder Challenge | $5,900,000 | $1,062,000 |
Oct 28 | Sanderson Farms Championship | $4,400,000 | $792,000 |
Jul 21 | Barbasol Championship | $3,500,000 | $630,000 |
Jul 28 | Barracuda Championship | $3,500,000 | $630,000 |
Feb 24 | Puerto Rico Open | $3,000,000 | $540,000 |
Mar 31 | Corales Puntacana Resort & Club Championship | $3,000,000 | $540,000 |