Payday at Kiawah
PGA Championship 2021: Here's the prize money payout for each golfer at Kiawah
Patrick Smith
The reward for winning the PGA Championship has become, well, more rewarding this year at Kiawah Island. On Friday, PGA of America officials revealed the prize money payout for the championship and announced a bump in what the 156-player field will be competing for.
This week’s overall purse is $12 million, a jump from $11 million at TPC Harding Park last August and the first increase since 2018. And with his victory on Sunday, Phil Mickelson earned a first-place check of $2.16 million, the first time in PGA Championship history that the champion will earn more $2 million and the biggest single payday of Mickelson's PGA Tour career.
With the increase, the PGA Championship payout now ranks second highest among the four men’s major championships, passing the Masters, which in April paid out an overall purse of $11.5 million with Hideki Matsuyama claiming $2.07 million for his victory. The U.S. Open purse remains the highest of the men’s majors, dolling out $12.5 million overall and $2.25 million to winner Bryson DeChambeau. In 2019, the Open Championship offered a $10.75 million purse with Shane Lowry receiving $1.935 million in earnings.
And the most lucrative purse on the PGA Tour? That distinction goes to the Players Championship. In March, the tour paid out a record $15 million prize money payout, with Justin Thomas earning $2.7 million for his victory.
The evolution of the prize-money payout in the PGA Championship offers an interesting look at how slowly golf purses evolved over the years. Suffice it to say, when Tiger Woods entered the mix in the 1990s, it did much to help bring new fans (and new sponsors) to professional golf. The payouts from the PGA of America went up exponentially after his arrival in pro golf, as you can see from the information below. 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
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 Kiawah.)
Win: Phil Mickelson, 282/-6, $2,160,000
T-2: Brooks Koepka, 284/-4, $1,056,000
T-2: Louis Oosthuizen, 284/-4, $1,056,000
T-4: Paul Casey, 286/-2, $462,250
T-4: Padraig Harrington, 286/-2, $462,250
T-4: Harry Higgs, 286/-2, $462,250
T-4: Shane Lowry, 286/-2, $462,250
T-8: Abraham Ancer, 287/-1, $263,000
T-8: Tony Finau, 287/-1, $263,000
T-8: Rickie Fowler, 287/-1, $263,000
T-8: Collin Morikawa, 287/-1, $263,000
T-8: Jon Rahm, 287/-1, $263,000
T-8: Justin Rose, 287/-1, $263,000
T-8: Scottie Scheffler, 287/-1, $263,000
T-8: Kevin Streelman, 287/-1, $263,000
T-8: Will Zalatoris, 287/-1, $263,000
T17: Keegan Bradley, 288/E, $168,000
T17: Corey Conners, 288/E, $168,000
T17: Charley Hoffman, 288/E, $168,000
T17: Sungjae Im, 288/E, $168,000
T17: Patrick Reed, 288/E, $168,000
T17: Aaron Wise, 288/E, $168,000
T-23: Chan Kim, 289/+1, $103,814.29
T-23: Martin Laird, 289/+1, $103,814.29
T-23: Hideki Matsuyama, 289/+1, $103,814.29
T-23: Jason Scrivener, 289/+1, $103,814.29
T-23: Patrick Cantlay, 289/+1, $103,814.28
T-23: Matt Fitzpatrick, 289/+1, $103,814.28
T-23: Billy Horschel, 289/+1, $103,814.28
T-30: Christiaan Bezuidenhout, 290/+2, $59,750
T-30: Stewart Cink, 290/+2, $59,750
T-30: Viktor Hovland, 290/+2, $59,750
T-30: Matt Jones, 290/+2, $59,750
T-30: Joaquin Niemann, 290/+2, $59,750
T-30: Ian Poulter, 290/+2, $59,750
T-30: Webb Simpson, 290/+2, $59,750
T-30: Jordan Spieth, 290/+2, $59,750
T-38: Bryson DeChambeau, 291/+3, $42,000
T-38: Branden Grace, 291/+3, $42,000
T-38: Emiliano Grillo, 291/+3, $42,000
T-38: Tyrrell Hatton, 291/+3, $42,000
T-38: Richy Werenski, 291/+3, $42,000
T-38: Gary Woodland, 291/+3, $42,000
T-44: Ben Cook, 292/+4, $31,300
T-44: Jason Day, 292/+4, $31,300
T-44: Talor Gooch, 292/+4, $31,300
T-44: Steve Stricker, 292/+4, $31,300
T-44: Daniel van Tonder, 292/+4, $31,300
T-49: Byeong Hun An, 293/+5, $24,950
T-49: Sam Horsfield, 293/+5, $24,950
T-49: Jason Kokrak, 293/+5, $24,950
T-49: Robert MacIntyre, 293/+5, $24,950
T-49: Rory McIlroy, 293/+5, $24,950
T-49: Harold Varner III, 293/+5, $24,950
T-55: Joel Dahmen, 294/+6, $22,475
T-55: Alex Noren, 294/+6, $22,475
T-55: Carlos Ortiz, 294/+6, $22,475
T-55: Matt Wallace, 294/+6, $22,475
T-59: Dean Burmester, 295/+7, $21,400
T-59: Cam Davis, 295/+7, $21,400
T-59: Denny McCarthy, 295/+7, $21,400
T-59: Cameron Smith, 295/+7, $21,400
T-59: Robert Streb, 295/+7, $21,400
T-64: Harris English, 296/+8, $20,200
T-64: Adam Hadwin, 296/+8, $20,200
T-64: Garrick Higgo, 296/+8, $20,200
T-64: Tom Hoge, 296/+8, $20,200
T-64: Henrik Stenson, 296/+8, $20,200
T-64: Jimmy Walker, 296/+8, $20,200
T-64: Danny Willett, 296/+8, $20,200
T-71: Russell Henley, 297/+9, $19,350
T-71: Lucas Herbert, 297/+9, $19,350
T-71: Tom Lewis, 297/+9, $19,350
T-71: Lee Westwood, 297/+9, $19,350
T-75: Daniel Berger, 298/+10, $19,050
T-75: Wyndham Clark, 298/+10, $19,050
77: Brendan Steele, 299/+11, $18,900
78: Brad Marek, 300/+12, $18,800
79: Rasmus Hojgaard, 301/+13, $18,700
80: Bubba Watson, 302/+14, $18,600
81: Brian Gay, 306/+18, $18,500
Players missing the cut and turning in a 36-hole score will be paid $3,200 each. Any player making the cut, but failing to submit a 72-hole score, will also be paid $3,200.
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