Why There’s $43m Up For Grabs This Week On The PGA Tour

There is more money than usual on offer at this week’s BMW Championship, but why is that?

A tee marker at the BMW Championship
There is big money up for grabs on the PGA Tour this week
(Image credit: Getty Images)
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As the second of the FedEx Cup Playoffs, much is riding on the outcome of the BMW Championship, where just the top 30 of the 50 players in the field will progress to the Tour Championship.

While making it to the East Lake tournament will ensure dreams of winning the FedEx Cup remain intact, there’s a huge financial reward on the line at the BMW Championship, too.

Like the first FedEx Cup Playoffs event, the FedEx St. Jude Championship, there is an overall purse of $20m at the Caves Valley Golf Club tournament.

While that alone would represent one of the biggest payouts of the season, given that it is identical to the prize money awarded at the prestigious Signature Events, it is less than half the cash that’s on the table.

There is also $22.93m to be distributed of the $100m FedEx Cup bonus money, bringing the total to $42.93m on offer this week.

The additional payout is part of the revamped FedEx Cup structure that has been introduced this season.

Previously, the $100m in bonus money was distributed among the 30 players in the Tour Championship, with the winner claiming $25m.

However, along with abandoning starting strokes at the tournament, another change this year sees the $100m distributed in stages.

The first $20m was divided among the top 10 in the FedEx Cup standings after the Wyndham Championship, which was the final event before the FedEx Cup Playoffs.

That week, Scottie Scheffler led the way in the standings despite not playing in the tournament, giving him a $10m bonus on top of a further $8m awarded to him from the Comcast Business Tour Top 10 prize pool.

Scottie Scheffler at the BMW Championship

Scottie Scheffler won $10m from the first phase of FedEx Cup bonus money

(Image credit: Getty Images)

The next instalment of $22.93m comes this week, with the top 30 in the standings following the tournamnet taking a share, including $5m to the leader.

The remaining $57.08m will then be handed out after the Tour Championship. A total of $40m will go to the 30 players in the FedEx Cup standings after that event, with the winner taking $10m. The remaining $17.08m will be divided among the players ranked 31st to 150th in the standings.

Mike Hall
Mike Hall
News Writer

Mike has over 25 years of experience in journalism, including writing on a range of sports throughout that time, such as golf, football and cricket. Now a freelance staff writer for Golf Monthly, he is dedicated to covering the game's most newsworthy stories. 


He has written hundreds of articles on the game, from features offering insights into how members of the public can play some of the world's most revered courses, to breaking news stories affecting everything from the PGA Tour and LIV Golf to developmental Tours and the amateur game. 


Mike grew up in East Yorkshire and began his career in journalism in 1997. He then moved to London in 2003 as his career flourished, and nowadays resides in New Brunswick, Canada, where he and his wife raise their young family less than a mile from his local course. 


Kevin Cook’s acclaimed 2007 biography, Tommy’s Honour, about golf’s founding father and son, remains one of his all-time favourite sports books.

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