Another major, another major purse increase. On Saturday, the PGA of America released the prize money payout for each golfer at the 2023 PGA Championship, revealing a $2.5 million bump from a year ago.
The 76 golfers who made the cut at Oak Hill Country Club in Rochester, N.Y., were competing for $17.5 million, with the winner on Sunday, Brooks Koepka, earning $3.15 million along with the Wanamaker Trophy. The increase comes after a $3 million boost in 2022 to $15 million. The overall purse is now $6.5 million more than was paid out in 2020 at TPC Harding Park.
The increase wasn’t surprising, perhaps, after the Masters boosted its purse to $18 million in April. Yet the payouts are a bit modest in the face of the $20 million purses being offered in PGA Tour designated events and in LIV Golf League tournaments.
For the time being, the PGA Championship is the second-highest paying men’s major. The USGA paid $17.5 million at U.S. Open in 2022 at The Country Club and the R&A offered $14 million last July at The 150th Open St. Andrews. All the majors, trail the Players Championship, which paid out $25 million in March with winner Scottie Scheffler earning $4.5 million.
The evolution of the prize money payout in the PGA Championship offers an interesting look at the trajectory of golf purses in general over the years. Here's a look at what the payouts had been in the past.
Year: Winner's Pay, Total Purse
1916: $500, $2,580 (first year of the event)
1931: $1,000, $7,200 (first year winner's pay increased)
1953: $5,000, $20,700 (first year winner's pay was $5K)
1958: $5,500, $39,388 (first year of stroke play, also the winner's amount actually decreased that year)
1965: $25,000, $149,700
1978: $50,000, $300,240
1983: $100,000, $608,099
1988: $160,000, $1,000,000 (first year with a $1M total purse)
1993: $300,000, $1,702,750
1998: $540,000, $2,886,800
2000: $900,000, $5,031,100 (first year with a $5M total purse)
2003: $1,080,000, $5,938,300 (first year with $1M-plus to the winner)
2009: $1,350,000, $7,484,500
2014: $1,800,000, $9,913,000
2018: $1,980,000, $11,000,000
2021: $2,160,000, $12,000,000
2022: $2,700,000, $15,000,000
2023: $3,150,000, $17,500,000
Here is a breakdown of the prize money payouts for each place in the field. (We’ll update this on Sunday when we know what each player specifically earned for his efforts at Oak Hills.)
Win: Brooks Koepka, -9, $3,150,000
T-2: Viktor Hovland, -7, $1,540,000
T-2: Scottie Scheffler, -7, $1,540,000
T-4: Cam Davis, -3, $720,000
T-4: Kurt Kitayama, -3, $720,000
T-4: Bryson DeChambeau, -3, $720,000
T-7: Sepp Straka, -2, $555,000
T-7: Rory McIlroy, -2, $555,000
T-9: Patrick Cantlay, -1, $465,000
T-9: Cameron Smith, -1, $465,000
T-9: Justin Rose, -1, $465,000
T-12: Shane Lowry, E, $365,000
T-12: Victor Perez, E, $365,000
T-12: Corey Conners, E, $365,000
T-15: Michael Block, +1, $288,333
T-15: Eric Cole, +1, $288,333
T-15: Tyrrell Hatton, +1, $288,333
T-18: Mito Pereira, +2, $214,400
T-18: Xander Schauffele, +2, $214,400
T-18: Min Woo Lee, +2, $214,400
T-18: Patrick Reed, +2, $214,400
T-18: Tommy Fleetwood, +2, $214,400
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T-23: Alex Smalley, +3, $165,000
T-23: Matt NeSmith, +3, $165,000
T-23: Ryan Fox, +3, $165,000
T-26: Collin Morikawa, +4, $135,000
T-26: Hayden Buckley, +4, $135,000
T-26: Justin Suh, +4, $135,000
T-29: Callum Tarren, +5, $90,136
T-29: Patrick Rodgers, +5, $90,136
T-29: K.H. Lee, +5, $90,136
T-29: Denny McCarthy, +5, $90,136
T-29: Adam Scott, +5, $90,136
T-29: Jordan Spieth, +5, $90,136
T-29: Harold Varner III, +5, $90,136
T-29: Keegan Bradley, +5, $90,136
T-29: Chris Kirk, +5, $90,136
T-29: Taylor Pendrith, +5, $90,136
T-29: Hideki Matsuyama, +5, $90,136
T-40: Adrian Meronk, +6, $46,900
T-40: Thomas Detry, +6, $46,900
T-40: J.T. Poston, +6, $46,900
T-40: Adam Hadwin, +6, $46,900
T-40: Lucas Herbert, +6, $46,900
T-40: Beau Hossler, +6, $46,900
T-40: Chez Reavie, +6, $46,900
T-40: Thomas Pieters, +6, $46,900
T-40: Adam Svensson, +6, $46,900
T-40: Sahith Theegala, +6, $46,900
T-50: Padraig Harrington, +7 $37,625
T-50: Nicolai Hojgaard, +7 $37,625
T-50: Jon Rahm, +7 $37,625
T-50: Stephan Jaeger, +7 $37,625
54: Dean Burmester, +8, $36,000
T-55: Lee Hodges, +9, $35,000
T-55: Max Homa, +9, $35,000
T-55: Dustin Johnson, +9, $35,000
T-58: Phil Mickelson, +10, $33,250
T-58: Zach Johnson, +10, $33,250
T-58: Tom Hoge, +10, $33,250
T-58: Keith Mitchell, +10, $33,250
T-62: Rikyua Hoshino, +11, $31,500
T-62: Sihwan Kim, +11, $31,500
T-62: Thirston Lawrence, +11, $31,500
T-65: Taylor Montgomery, +12, $29,750
T-65: Justin Thomas, +12, $29,750
T-65: Matt Wallace, +12, $29,750
T-65: Pablo Larrazabal, +12, $29,750
T-69: Ben Taylor, +13, $28,000
T-69: Joel Dahmen, +13, $28,000
T-69: Yannik Paul, +13, $28,000
T-72: Taylor Moore, +15, $26,500
T-72: Tony Finau, +15, $26,500
T-72: Sam Stevens, +15, $26,500
75: Mark Hubbard, +18, $25,500
76: Kazuki Higa, +20, $25,000
Players missing the cut and turning in a 36-hole score will be paid $4,000 each. Any player making the cut but failing to submit a 72-hole score will also be paid $4,000.
