Which Pro Golf Tournament Has The Highest Prize Money?

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Across the entire sport, there are hundreds of millions of dollars up for grabs every year as a professional golfer in terms of sponsorships, bonuses and prize money.

But the quickest and most straightforward way to increase your earnings as a pro golfer as it stands is by playing well in weekly tournaments.

On the PGA Tour, for example, there is upwards of half a billion dollars in prize money on offer each season.

Meanwhile, LIV Golf puts up in excess of $300 million for individuals and the LPGA Tour has continued to increase its overall payout in recent seasons - moving to above $128 million.

man standing on a pile of money — There is quite literally a mountain of money in golf these days

Not forgetting the DP World Tour, the Asian Tour, the Ladies European Tour and the Korn Ferry Tour, each circuit can prove to be extremely lucrative for the most successful players.

But which single tournament has the highest one-off prize money payout?

Unsurprisingly, given the stratospheric total available on the PGA Tour, it is the historic US circuit's season-ending event - the Tour Championship.

Since 2025, the overall prize pot at East Lake Golf Club - the final event of the FedEx Cup Playoffs - has been set at $40 million while the winner has earned an impressive $10 million.

Previously, there was a total of $100 million on offer at the Tour Championship with $25 million going to the victor. In 2023, there was $75 million on the table and $18 million was passed on to the winner.

The champion's payout in 2019 - when the tournament's format was first altered - was a cool $15 million.

However, during that time, it was officially listed as 'bonus money' and didn't technically count towards the Career Money List.

Back in 2018, the overall payout at the Tour Championship was $9 million before a new format arrived on the scene 12 months later and the prize pot continued to rise until 2025.

In truth, the Tour Championship now stands well out on its own in terms of the richest single prize in pro golf. The next closest is the PGA Tour's Players Championship with an overall purse of $25 million and a winner's check for $4.5 million.

After that, there is the US Open with $21.5 million at the last count and The Masters with $21 million overall.

In the next tier down, the PGA Tour's Signature Events each put up $20 million prize purses with either $3.6 million or $4 million going to the champion - depending on the event and its format.

Similarly, all 13 individual LIV Golf League tournaments have a $20 million purse with $4 million being sent to the triumphant pro.

John Rahm with the LIV Golf Individual Championship trophy — John Rahm has won tens of million via the LIV Golf League

Meanwhile, the highest prize money payout anywhere in the women's game belongs to both the US Women's Open and the KPMG Women's PGA Championship, with each offering a $12 million payout. The former gives $2.4 million to its champion while the latter shared $1.8 million with the winner.

Just below that is the LPGA Tour's CME Group Tour Championship. That puts up a total of $11 million, but the winner is richly rewarded there with a $4 million payout - the same as LIV Golf and a handful of PGA Tour events.

Beyond those elevated tournaments, the highest prize money payout for a regular event in either the men's or women's game currently belongs to the PGA Tour's CJ Cup Byron Nelson thanks to its $10.3 million total and a $1.854 million winner's check.

The Rocket Classic and the DP World Tour's season-ending tournament are the only other events in the game with prize money payouts of $10 million or above at the time of writing.

HIGHEST TOTAL PRIZE MONEY PAYOUTS IN GOLF

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Rank	Tournament	Total Prize Money	Winner's Check
1st	Tour Championship	$40 million	$10 million
2nd	The Players	$25 million	$4.5 million
3rd	US Open (men's)	$21.5 million	$4.3 million
4th	The Masters	$21 million	$4.2 million
5th	All LIV Golf Events (Individual)	$20 million	$4 million
6th	PGA Tour Signature Events	$20 million	$4 million/$3.6 million
7th	FedEx Cup Playoff Events	$20 million	$3.6 million
8th	US Women's Open	$12 million	$2.4 million
9th	KPMG Women's PGA Championship	$12 million	$1.8 million
10th	CME Group Tour Championship	$11 million	$4 million
11th	CJ Cup Byron Nelson	$10.3 million	$1.854 million
12th	DP World Tour Championship	$10 million	$2 million
13th	Rocket Classic	$10 million	$1.75 million

Jonny Leighfield is our Staff News Writer who joined Golf Monthly just in time for the 2023 Solheim Cup and Ryder Cup. He graduated from the University of Brighton with a degree in Sport Journalism in 2017 and spent almost five years as the sole sports reporter at his local newspaper. During his time with Golf Monthly, Jonny has interviewed several stars of the game, including Robert MacIntyre, Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood, and Joaquin Niemann. An improving golfer himself, Jonny enjoys learning as much about the game as he can and recently reached his Handicap goal of 18 for the first time.

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