The latest of the PGA Tour’s signature events comes from Muirfield Village with Jack Nicklaus’ Memorial Tournament. That means that the 73-strong field is packed with many of the game's best players, including 43 of the world’s top 50, while there is also an overall payout of $20m to compete for.
While that figure is identical to most of the other signature events, there is even more on offer for the winner thanks to a revised prize money distribution at the event.
Because it’s one of the three invitationals among the big events, along with the Genesis Invitational and the Arnold Palmer Invitational, the winner takes home 20% of the purse rather than the more common 18%.
Therefore, the player clutching the trophy on Sunday evening will have also just been rewarded with a payday of $4m rather than the $3.6m typically awarded at signature events, which was also the amount Viktor Hovland earned for his win in 2023.
The Genesis Invitational was won by Hideki Matsuyama, while Scottie Scheffler put down a marker for some truly spectacular form to come with his first win of the season at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
On each occasion, the winner also banked $4m, while their respective caddies would have likely claimed 10% of that figure, handing both Matsuyama’s caddie Shota Hayafuji and Scheffler’s bagman Ted Scott approximately $400,000 for their efforts, and the same amount should go to this week’s caddie.
Given the strength of the field, it’s hard to predict which player’s caddie will be starting next week richer to the tune of $400,000, although if the season to date is a decent guide, it could well be Scott again.
Scheffler has won four times this season, while he’s also had six other top-10 finishes. Thanks to that incredible form, it’s estimated Scott will have increased his wealth by around $1.8m this year by the end of the PGA Championship.
Scheffler also played the week after at the Charles Schwab Challenge, where he was again impressive, this time with a T2. With a check of between 5-7% depending on how high up a non-winning player finishes, it’s likely he claimed another $50,000+ from Scheffler’s $809,900 windfall to take him to around $1.85m for the year so far.
Could he really hit the $2.25m mark by mid-June? Anything is possible, but regardless, whichever of the 73 caddies takes the $400,000 on Sunday evening, they’re likely to have an extra spring in their step to begin the new week.
