The Masters 36-hole cut rule is one of the most accommodating in golf, limiting the weekend field to the top 50 players and ties -- more room compared to the PGA Tour 36-hole cut rule of the top 65 and ties.
So, in an invitational field of players at the Masters, less than half are going home after the second round. Do 2024 Masters players get paid if they miss the cut?
Actually, they do. At the Masters, the professionals who miss the 36-hole cut are also paid. In 2024, those professionals who missed the cut were paid $10,000. Amateurs who miss the cut, however, are not paid that $10,000, as they are not allowed that money under the Rules of Amateur Status.
At all four majors, players who miss the cut get paid:
- At the PGA Championship, players who miss the cut are paid $4,000 each. There are no amateurs in the tournament.
- At the US Open, the players who miss the 36-hole cut each earn $10,000.
- At the British Open Championship, the players who miss the 36-hole cut are also paid, but they're paid on a sliding scale. The first 10 professionals (and ties) to miss the cut earned $7,200, while the next 20 professional golfers and ties got $5,750 and the remaining professional golfers took home $4,850.
Most weeks, when PGA Tour players miss the cut, they don't get paid. No PGA Tour event that's not a major pays out to players who miss the cut, though there are events where there's not a cut.
