PGA Championship, Players Championship hike purses to $10 million

The PGA Championship and Players Championship now share the distinction of boasting the golf world's largest professional purses.

In a joint news conference on Wednesday, PGA of America president Ted Bishop and PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem announced the bump in their respective organization's tournament purses as part of a series of new cooperative initiatives between the two bodies. The PGA Championship purse will increase by $2 million to become the game's most lucrative major championship. The Players Championship will bump its purse by $500,000 to hit the $10 million mark.

Tiger Woods won The Players Championship in 2013 with Jason Dufner taking the Wanamaker trophy at Oak Hill in the PGA Championship in August.

Finchem and Bishop also announced initiatives to increase the public's awareness of the PGA of America through digital and broadcast PSAs, as well as involvement in broadcast coverage of PGA Tour events, as well as the foundation of a program to have PGA of America professionals on site at every PGA Tour event to offer short lessons and instructional sections to current and aspiring golfers.

In recent memory, the four major championships have typically offered matching or nearly matching purses. In 2013, the Masters PGA Championship purses were $8 million, with the U.S. Open at $7.846 million, the Open Championship at $8.44 million (in part due to the exchange rate with the U.S. dollar).