Much has been made of late about how much is being made by professional golfers. Discussions around prize money payouts have helped fuel the speculation surrounding potential rival leagues to the PGA Tour and DP World Tour. Meanwhile, PGA Tour officials have countered by upping their antes, boosting the overall prize money payouts on tour from $367 million to $427 million. The biggest jump came with the Players Championship, where the tour bumped the prize money payout from $15 million in 2021 to $20 million this past March.
Now Augusta National has increased its prize money payouts as well. On Saturday, the club announced that the overall purse for this year’s Masters is $15 million. That’s a jump of $3.5 million from last year’s total and a record for any major championship.
This year’s winner, Scottie Scheffler, is taking home a record amount as well, $2.7 million compared to the $2.07 million Hideki Matsuyama won a year ago.
Before the announcement, the Masters ranked tied for third for the most lucrative major. The U.S. Open handed out $12.5 million at Torrey Pines last June, with Jon Rahm earning $2.25 million for his victory. The PGA Championship paid out $12 million in May at Kiawah Island with Phil Mickelson receiving $2.16 million. The Open Championship awarded $11.5 million in 2021 at Royal St. George’s, Collin Morikawa winning $2.070 million.
