Purse for the Players Championship 2025: Prize Money & Payouts
By Kyle Moss
The Players Championship has been on the PGA Tour since 1974, when Jack Nicklaus won the inaugural event with a $50,000 payday out of a $250,000 purse. The tournament was first held at the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass in 1982 when Steve Pate took home the trophy. And that iconic Ponte Vedra Beach course, paired with top-notch fields and record-setting purses, has helped make this one of the most prestigious and talked-about stops as the PGA Tour’s flagship event.
As the first tournament to award a million dollars to the winner, Hal Sutton, in 2000, The Players Championship has proven to be one of the most lucrative tournaments on tour. With the emergence of LIV Golf and its business model raising the bar and purses even higher, the PGA Tour has added signature events with elevated prize money. At the same time, The Players Championship continues to push the limits as the biggest purse on the schedule, aside from the Tour Championship at the end of the season.
In fact, the prize money for The Players Championship has gone up significantly over the past few years, from $15 million in 2021—when Justin Thomas took home $2.7 million for winning—to $20 million in 2022, with Cameron Smith earning $3.6 million as the winner.
LEARN MORE: Catch up on Rory’s big 2025 win! >
Higher Purse & a three-peat
That championship purse went even higher to $25 million for 2023 and 2024, as world number one Scottie Scheffler took home a winner’s share of $4.5 million in both of those years. He will look to make it a three-peat in 2025, with the winner once again earning $4.5 million out of a $25 million total purse.
As far as the rest of the prize payout, every top-five finisher in the past two years has cleared $1 million, with the top 13 earning over $500,000 and the top 35 finishers earning at least six figures. In other words, one shot could cost you some serious money.
For a fun comparison, it’s worth noting that the 2024 DP World Tour Championship had a purse of $10 million, the biggest of the season, with winner Rory McIlroy taking home $3 million. And just food for thought, the US Ryder Cup team has decided to start paying qualifying players a $200,000 stipend.
READ MORE: Get the full breakdown of the 2025 points and payouts >
Can’t get enough of The Players?
Dive into the Golf Podcast with Rex & Lav for the full breakdown.
https://open.spotify.com/episode/70BJWhDSZp8BPgsDi2zPPh?si=b08d260f4d034dae
