Last week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill was one of the most lucrative tournaments on the 2024 PGA Tour schedule with eventual winner Scottie Scheffler claiming a $4m first prize from its $20m purse.
Typically, the schedule reverts to a regular tournament immediately after one of its Signature events, but not this week, which instead is reserved for one of the most beloved and prestigious tournaments of the year, The Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass.
To many fans, the tournament is the unofficial fifth Major, and there are many perks and traditions that help reinforce that notion, but one is undoubtedly the hugely attractive prize money payout.
The $25m available at this year’s event is more than any of last year’s four Majors. The figure is also the only one on the PGA Tour schedule that matches the prize money at regular LIV Golf events, while the winner will earn $4.5m - $500,000 more than the victors of each of the regular tournaments on the big-money circuit.
The runner-up will also be extremely well compensated, with a bank balance swelled by $2.725m, while each of the top five on the final leaderboard will claim a seven-figure sum.
One of the reasons purses have become so lucrative on the PGA Tour in recent years is the emergence of LIV Golf, and an indication of just how much the financial landscape has changed can be seen in the historical prize money available at the tournament. While this year’s figure is identical to the 2023 payout, it is $10m more than was on offer just three years ago.
As well as the incredible financial rewards on offer, there are plenty of other incentives at the event, including 750 FedEx Cup points for the winner, who will also receive a five-year exemption to the tournament and the guarantee of a PGA Tour card for the same length of time.
The 2024 champion will also book a spot at one of the most lucrative events of next year, The Sentry, as well as all four Majors for the next three years.
The winner will also claim 80 Official World Ranking points, just 20 fewer than the players winning this year’s Majors will receive.
Below is the full prize money payout for The Players Championship.
The Players Championship Prize Money Payout
Based on 2023 breakdown
Who Are The Star Names In The Players Championship?
There are 144 players in the field, including the defending champion. In 2023, Scottie Scheffler won the tournament at a canter, easing home by five shots over Tyrrell Hatton. The American will be confident of repeating that success, particularly after his similarly dominant win at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, where he finally addressed the putting issues that have hindered his game for several months.
While there’s no Hatton this year as he now plays for LIV Golf, several other former champions are in the field, including 2021 winner Justin Thomas and Rory McIlroy, who won in 2019. Si Woo Kim, who won in 2017, and Webb Simpson, who claimed victory the year after, also participate.
As well as Scheffler and McIlroy, other players in the world’s top 10 competing are Viktor Hovland, Wyndham Clark, Xander Schauffele, Patrick Cantlay, Max Homa, Brian Harman and Ludvig Aberg, who has reached World No.10 just nine months after his professional debut.
Other notable names in the field include a resurgent Hideki Matsuyama, 2022 US Open champion Matt Fitzpatrick and Jason Day, who won the trophy eight years ago.
However, there is no place for 15-time Major winner Tiger Woods, whose most recent PGA Tour appearance came at the Genesis Invitational, where he withdrew with illness during the second round.
Who Is The Youngest Player To Win The Players Championship?
Si Woo Kim became the youngest player to win the tournament in 2017, when he was aged 21. That meant he joined Tiger Woods, Sergio Garcia and Jordan Spieth as the only other players to win it before the age of 22.
Can LIV Golfers Play In The Players Championship?
Like other PGA Tour events, there is no place for LIV golfers at The Players Championship. That means former champions including Cameron Smith, Sergio Garcia and Martin Kaymer, along with Masters champion Jon Rahm, miss out.
Where Is The 2024 Players Championship?
The tournament takes place at TPC Sawgrass's Stadium Course, where it has been held since 1982. The venue is particularly well known for its iconic par-3 17th, which has an island green.
