Payday at Bay Hill
Here's the prize money payout for each golfer at the 2022 Arnold Palmer Invitational
Michael Cohen/R&A
Every year at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, we have the chance to recognize and reflect on the amazing career of one of the legends of golf. And, simultaneously, we can also recognize how much the prize money payouts in golf have grown since The King reigned supreme in professional golf. For all those who think that today’s top players on the PGA Tour don’t earn enough commensurate with their stature in the game, consider how much Arnold Palmer made while being arguably the game’s more influential player for three-plus decades.
During Palmer’s 50 years playing professionally on the PGA Tour, he made 726 tournament starts and played a total of 2,553 rounds. He won 62 tour titles, fifth most in tour history, while finishing second or third 38 and 27 times, respectively. For those celebrated efforts, the seven-time major champion’s career earnings totaled a mere $1,861,857.
To understand how laughably low that is, consider that the winner on Sunday at Bay Hill—Scottie Scheffler taking the title with a closing 72 on a brutally difficult scoring day—earned $2.16 million. That means, with one win, Scheffler earned 116 percent of Palmer’s career prize money while playing in .002 percent of the rounds Palmer logged in his career.
Different times, different era for sure, but this contrast illustrates just how much more money is at stake these days on the PGA Tour compared to when Palmer was The King. So does this: There are 11 golfers who have made more money playing in Palmer’s tournament at Bay Hill than Palmer did for the entirety of his career. Take a look at the career money list for the API Invitational:
1: Tiger Woods, $7,657,559.53 (18 starts, 8 wins)
2: Marc Leishman, $3,388,192.17 (12/1)
3: Bryson DeChambeau, $3,118,291 (5/1)
4: Rory McIlroy, $2,998.578.13 (7/1)
5: Vijay Singh, $2,650,365.71 (27/1)
6: Francesco Molinari, $2,487,528.50 (8/1)
7: Matt Every, $2,363,492.43 (12/2)
8: Justin Rose, $2,296,710.43 (16/0)
9: Tyrrell Hatton, $2,232,939 (5/1)
10: Henrik Stenson, $2,166,174.53 (13/0)
11: Ernie Els, $2,138,036.34 (24/2)
The overall prize money payout for this week’s tournament is $12 million. Here’s the breakdown for the prize money each golfer who made the cut will earn this week.
Win: Scottie Scheffler, -5, $2,160,000
T-2: Tyrrell Hatton, 284/-4, $908,000
T-2: Billy Horschel, 284/-4, $908,000
T-2: Viktor Hovland, 284/-4, $908,000
T-5: Chris Kirk, 285/-3, $463,500
T-5: Gary Woodland, 285/-3, $463,500
T-7: Talor Gooch, 286/-2, $390,000
T-7: Lucas Herbert, 286/-2, $390,000
T-9: Sam Burns, 287/-1, $339,000
T-9: Matt Fitzpatrick, 287/-1, $339,000
T-11: Keegan Bradley, 288/E, $291,000
T-11: Corey Connersc288/E, $291,000
T-13: Russell Henley, 289/+1, $228,000
T-13: Graeme McDowell, 289/+1, $228,000
T-13: Rory McIlroy, 289/+1, $228,000
T-13: Cameron Young, 289/ 1, $228,000
T-17: Max Homa, 290/+2, $183,000
T-17: Jon Rahm, 290/+2, $183,000
T-17: Aaron Wise, 290/+2, $183,000
T-20: Christiaan Bezuidenhout, 291/+3, $131,400
T-20: Tommy Fleetwood, 291/+3, $131,400
T-20: Beau Hossler, 291/+3, $131,400
T-20: Sungjae Im, 291/+3, $131,400
T-20: Hideki Matsuyama, 291/+3, $131,400
T-20: Nick Watney, 291/+3, $131,400
T-26: Si Woo Kim, 292/+4, $87,600
T-26: Jason Kokrak, 292/+4, $87,600
T-26: David Lipsky, 292/+4, $87,600
T-26: Sebastián Muñoz, 292/+4, $87,600
T-26: Adam Scott, 292/+4, $87,600
T-26: Brendan Steele, 292/+4, $87,600
T-32: Tom Hoge, 293/+5, $67,000
T-32: Charles Howell III, 293/+5, $67,000
T-32: Patton Kizzire, 293/+5, $67,000
T-32: Adam Long, 293/+5, $67,000
T-32: Thomas Pieters, 293/+5, $67,000
T-32: Nick Taylor, 293/+5, $67,000
T-38: Sergio Garcia, 294/+6, $53,400
T-38: Patrick Rodgers, 294/+6, $53,400
T-38: Alex Smalley, 294/+6, $53,400
T-38: Will Zalatoris, 294/+6, $53,400
T-42: Dylan Frittelli, 295/+7, $37,464
T-42: Padraig Harrington, 295/+7, $37,464
T-42: Zach Johnson, 295/+7, $37,464
T-42: K.H. Lee, 295/+7, $37,464
T-42: Taylor Moore, 295/+7, $37,464
T-42: Taylor Pendrith, 295/+7, $37,464
T-42: Pat Perez, 295/+7, $37,464
T-42: Ian Poulter, 295/+7, $37,464
T-42: Adam Schenk, 295/+7, $37,464
T-42: Davis Thompson, 295/+7, $37,464
T-52: Rickie Fowler, 296/+8, $28,170
T-52: Lanto Griffin, 296/+8, $28,170
T-52: Stephan Jaeger, 296/+8, $28,170
T-52: Matt Jones, 296/+8, $28,170
T-52: Martin Laird, 296/+8, $28,170
T-52: John Pak, 296/+8, $28,170
T-52: J.J. Spaun, 296/+8, $28,170
T-52: Danny Willett, 296/+8, $28,170
60: Brendon Todd, 297/+9, $27,000
T-61: Cameron Champ, 298/+10, $26,040
T-61: Danny Lee, 298/+10, $26,040
T-61: Denny McCarthy, 298/+10, $26,040
T-61: Keith Mitchell, 298/+10, $26,040
T-61: Sam Ryder, 298/+10, $26,040
T-61: Vince Whaley, 298/+10, $26,040
T-61: Matthew Wolff, 298/+10, $26,040
T-68: Hayden Buckley, 299/+11, $24,720
T-68: Marc Leishman, 299/+11, $24,720
T-68: Greyson Sigg, 299/+11, $24,720
T-68: Lee Westwood, 299/+11, $24,720
72: Paul Casey, 301/+13, $24,120
73: Maverick McNealy, 302/+14, $23,880
T-74: Lucas Glover, 304/+16, $23,400
T-74: Anirban Lahiri, 304/+16, $23,400
T-74: Troy Merritt, 304/+16, $23,400
77: Chez Reavie, 307/+19, $22,920