The PLAYERS Championship: $25 Million Payout from TPC Sawgrass

The PGA Tour’s flagship event, the PLAYERS Championship from Ponte Vedra Beach, FL, culminated on Monday morning with Rory McIlroy reigning supreme. McIlroy bested JJ Spaun in a three-hole playoff to capture the 28th win of his PGA Tour career.

Sunday’s final round hit a four-hour rain delay, which pushed players to the brink of sunlight. When both Spaun came up inches short of making a birdie to win on 18, both players were told they would be playing first thing Monday morning.

McIlroy came out hot, birdieing the par-5 16th to take a one-shot lead. But it ultimately came down to the famous island green on 17. Spaun’s tee shot air-mailed the green straight into the lake. That all but clinched the title for Rory and, with it, a handsome reward of $4.5 million.

That is because of the relatively new purse structure on the PGA Tour. In 2024, the Tour felt inclined to increase purse sizes to hold onto elite talent, as LIV Golf’s endless pit of money had pried away some of the world’s best.

The eight Signature Events on the PGA Tour schedule each have an elevated purse of $20 million. But The PLAYERS is even higher, as $25 million will be doled out.

Below is the breakdown of the full payouts at the Players Championship.

Players Championship $25 Million Payouts

P1 Rory McIlroy -12 $4,500,000

P2 J. J. Spaun -12 $2,725,000

T3 Tom Hoge -10 $1,325,000

T3 Akshay Bhatia -10 $1,325,000

T3 Lucas Glover -10 $1,325,000

T6 Danny Walker -9 $843,750

T6 Corey Conners -9 $843,750

T6 Bud Cauley -9 $843,750

9 Robert MacIntyre -8 $731,250

T10 Collin Morikawa -7 $656,250

T10 Davis Thompson -7 $656,250

T12 Patrick Cantlay -6 $556,250

T12 Jake Knapp -6 $556,250

T14 Aaron Rai -5 $418,750

T14 Denny McCarthy -5 $418,750

T14 Tommy Fleetwood -5 $418,750

T14 Sam Ryder -5 $418,750

T14 Sepp Straka -5 $418,750

T14 Alex Smalley -5 $418,750

T20 Shane Lowry -4 $240,250

T20 Ryan Fox -4 $240,250

T20 Keegan Bradley -4 $240,250

T20 Joe Highsmith -4 $240,250

T20 Matt McCarty -4 $240,250

T20 Daniel Berger -4 $240,250

T20 Scottie Scheffler -4 $240,250

T20 Min Woo Lee -4 $240,250

T20 Max McGreevy -4 $240,250

T20 Stephan Jaeger -4 $240,250

T30 Russell Henley -3 $163,750

T30 Harris English -3 $163,750

T30 Will Zalatoris -3 $163,750

T33 Rico Hoey -2 $136,250

T33 Kurt Kitayama -2 $136,250

T33 Justin Thomas -2 $136,250

T33 Taylor Moore -2 $136,250

T33 J.T. Poston -2 $136,250

T38 Si Woo Kim -1 $111,250

T38 Justin Lower -1 $111,250

T38 Davis Riley -1 $111,250

T38 Taylor Pendrith -1 $111,250

T42 Hayden Springer E $81,688

T42 Matt Kuchar E $81,688

T42 Billy Horschel E $81,688

T42 Jesper Svensson E $81,688

T42 Mac Meissner E $81,688

T42 Tom Kim E $81,688

T42 Chris Kirk E $81,688

T42 Ryan Gerard E $81,688

T50 Beau Hossler +1 $63,500

T50 Jacob Bridgeman +1 $63,500

T52 Byeong Hun An +2 $60,750

T52 Sahith Theegala +2 $60,750

T54 Matthieu Pavon +3 $58,250

T54 Carson Young +3 $58,250

T54 Charley Hoffman +3 $58,250

T54 Camilo Villegas +3 $58,250

T54 Joel Dahmen +3 $58,250

59 Jordan Spieth +4 $56,750

60 Jhonattan Vegas +5 $56,250

T61 Trey Mullinax +6 $54,500

T61 Cameron Young +6 $54,500

T61 Sungjae Im +6 $54,500

T61 Will Chandler +6 $54,500

T61 Chandler Phillips +6 $54,500

T61 Austin Eckroat +6 $54,500

67 Emiliano Grillo +7 $52,750

68 Isaiah Salinda +8 $52,250

T69 Sami Valimaki +9 $51,500

T69 C.T. Pan +9 $51,500

71 Rickie Fowler +12 $50,750

72 Xander Schauffele +13 $50,250

Exactly half of The Players field earned a paycheck this week. Notice how Xander Schauffele finished dead last among those to make the cut. Certainly not ideal, but he appears to still be battling with the rib injury that kept him off the course for over a month.

Meanwhile, 72 others will head home with lost wages incurred on the trip to Ponte Vedra.

They include some of the more well-known players on Tour, including Ludvig Aberg, Hideki Matsuyama, Max Homa, Viktor Hovland, Matt Fitzpatrick and Tony Finau, among others.