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The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass offers the PGA Tour’s largest purse, totaling $25 million in 2026.The winner will claim a record $4.5 million, surpassing even major championship payouts this year.This event’s financial rewards have grown dramatically, making it one of golf’s most prestigious and lucrative tournaments.
The Players Championship is prestigious, thrilling, and truly one of the best PGA Tour events on the calendar. It also happens to be the richest purse in golf with record prize money for the winner, as well as being doled out overall. And Ludvig Åberg made his charge to take that top payout on Friday with a blistering 9-under round that gave him the lead.
The young Swede held onto that lead on a tough moving day, eyeing a signature victory at The Players and trying to hang on further. And with this prize money in the balance, that only added to the pressure. How much is the high-mark purse at TPC Sawgrass? We have all the details for The Players Championship payouts golf fans need.
The Players Championship winner’s prize money, total purse for 2026
The winner of The Players Championship will take home the highest prize money total on the PGA Tour, a whopping $4.5 million. That’s because the event at TPC Sawgrass also offers an unmatched purse size as well, with the total purse clocking in at $25 million. That’s more than any of the four major championships, even though the prize money being handed out hasn’t changed in the last four years, which speaks to how heavily the tour invests in making this event important.
Make no mistake, The Players Championship means just as much as any of the four major tournaments in part due to its purse. There’s a reason it’s often called the fifth major in golf’s year-round par five.
The Players Championship payout distribution by finishing position
Xander Schauffele | Corey Perrine/Florida Times-Union / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Here’s a look at the full Players Championship payouts for the 73 players who made the cut this week at TPC Sawgrass.
Finishing Position
2026 Players Championship Prize Money
Winner
$4.5 million
2nd
$2.725 million
3rd
$1.725 million
4th
$1.225 million
5th
$1.025 million
6th
$906,250
7th
$843,750
8th
$781,250
9th
$731, 250
10th
$681,250
11th
$631,250
12th
$581,250
13th
$531,250
14th
$481,250
15th
$456,250
16th
$431,250
17th
$406,250
18th
$381,250
19th
$356,250
20th
$331,250
21st
$306,250
22nd
$281,250
23rd
$261,250
24th
$241,250
25th
$221,250
26th
$201,250
27th
$193,750
28th
$186,250
29th
$178,750
30th
$171,250
31st
$163,750
32nd
$156,250
33rd
$148,750
34th
$142,500
35th
$136,250
36th
$130,000
37th
$123,750
38th
$118,750
39th
$113,750
40th
$108,750
41st
$103,750
42nd
$98,750
43rd
$93,750
44th
$88,750
45th
$83,750
46th
$78,750
47th
$73,750
48th
$69,750
49th
$66,250
50th
$64,250
51st
$62,750
52nd
$61,250
53rd
$60,250
54th
$59,250
55th
$58,750
56th
$58,250
57th
$57,750
58th
$57,250
59th
$56,750
60th
$56,250
61st
$55,750
62nd
$55,250
63rd
$54,750
64th
$54,250
65th
$53,750
66th
$53,250
67th
$52,750
68th
$52,250
69th
$51,750
70th
$51,250
71st
$50,750
72nd
$50,250
73rd
$49,750
The Players Championship purse and winners in the last 5 years
Year
Winner
Winner’s Prize
Total Purse
2025 Players Championship
Rory McIlroy
$4.5 million
$25 million
2024 Players Championship
Scottie Scheffler
$4.5 million
$25 million
2023 Players Championship
Scottie Scheffler
$4.5 million
$25 million
2022 Players Championship
Cameron Smith
$3.6 million
$20 million
2021 Players Championship
Justin Thomas
$2.7 million
$15 million
En route to becoming the richest purse in golf, we’ve seen the prize money skyrocket — even though it’s plateaued at the $25 million mark since increasing to that point in 2023. Heck, for his back-to-back wins, Scheffler made a ridiculous $9 million at TPC Sawgrass alone. That’s ludicrous in itself.
But it gets even crazier when you consider just how substantially the purse jumped in such a short time. From 2021 to 2023, the total purse size increased by $10 million — which is more than the total purse of some PGA Tour events — and the winner’s share leapt almost $2 million. That’s truly absurd, and even more so when you consider that the 2019 winner, Rory, won just $2.25 million from a $12.5 million purse.
That being said, it’s hard to foresee the purse increasing again from this point. Even still, it most definitely pays (and pays well) to play well at The Players Championship.