How much does Winner of Players Championship get? What is the payout for TPC Sawgrass?

The Players Championship is an annual golf tournament on the PGA Tour. Originally known as the Tournament Players Championship, it began in 1974.

The Players Championship currently offers the highest prize fund of any tournament in golf, overtaking the U.S. Open, which offers a $12.5 million purse.

Despite not being a major, The Players Championship has been promoted as such by the tour, dubbed the fifth major, and is often regarded as the next most prestigious tournament in golf.

This is because of the characteristics it shares with the majors, such as the high class field and its large purse. It also has a renowned host course in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida (the TPC at Sawgrass Stadium Course at which the tournament has been played since 1982, home of the iconic par-3 No. 17 “Island Green”).

What is the payout for TPC Sawgrass?

The size of the purse for the 2022 Players Championship can’t be overstated. At $20 million, it was a $5 million bump from last year’s edition and easily the biggest individual event purse in the history of golf.

It’s nearly double any of the four major championship purses, which means there was a lot to play for this week in Jacksonville, Florida, even for golfers who were not in the hunt for the victory at TPC Sawgrass.

To contextualize the significant amount of this prize money, the $3.6 million winner’s share that went to Cameron Smith is more than the career earnings of Lee Trevino (who won 29 events), Frank Nobilo, Sandy Lyle and Johnny Miller (who won 25 times).

The lowest finishers after the cut all earned $43,000, which is nearly equivalent to what Jack Nicklaus earned for winning the first Players Championship back in 1974.

Everyone who finished in the top 36 this year made at least six figures. The top 11 finishers all earned over $500,000.