The biggest purses in professional golf come nowadays in the PGA Tour's designated events, in major tournaments or events just shy of major status, all carrying big first-place prize money and the largest payouts in the sport.
The Players Championship has the biggest purse in golf as of 2023, with the PGA Tour announcing an increase to $25 million, with the winner getting a record $4.5 million. That's a $12.5 million increase over 2019.
There are 10 PGA Tour events with purses of $20 million, including the Genesis Invitational, WM Phoenix Open, BMW Championship, FedEx St. Jude Championship, Arnold Palmer Invitational, the Memorial Tournament, RBC Heritage, Wells Fargo Championship, WGC Dell Tecnologies Match Play and the Travelers Championship.
Among the major championships, the Masters Tournament so far has the largest purse, coming in at $20 million in 2024.
The Masters Tournament is tied for the second-largest purse in golf, increasing its purse in 2017 from $10 million to $20 million in 2024, with $3.6 million going to the green jacket winner.
The US Open had the largest purse among the majors in 2023, with a $20 million purse, increasing $5 million in one year.
The PGA Championship purse is now $17.5 million. While the PGA of America and the PGA Tour had tied the purses of the PGA Championship and The Players together in recent years, the PGA of America hasn't kept pace with the PGA Tour's efforts to offer the richest purse in golf.
The British Open purse was $10.5 million in 2018 and increased to $10.75 million in 2019, and the price was quoted in US dollars so the prize fund would not be subject to fluctuation in the value of the British pound as the United Kingdom goes through the implications of the 2016 Brexit vote. It is now $16.5 million.
