Players Championship: “Fifth Major” boosts prize pot to record level
The Players Championships unofficial status as golfs fifth Major will be further enhanced this weekend at TPC Sawgrass where a record prize will be paid out to the winner.
Once the richest tournament in golf despite not being one of the four Majors, the Players Championships financial offering has fallen behind the US Open in recent years but still remains one of the most lucrative events in the sport.
This year organisers the PGA Tour has increased its prize pot by $500,000 to a tournament-record $11m, meaning the winner will take home its largest prize to date of $1.98m.
That marks a 4.8 per cent jump on the $1.89m won by reigning champion Kim Si-Woo last year.
With this years runner-up set to earn $1.19m and the third-place player $748,0000, all of the top 10 finishers on Sunday stand to earn over $275,000.
Read more: Sam Torrance – Jason Day back to his best in time for fifth Major
The Players Championship lost the long-held lustre of being the richest tournament in golf last year after the PGA Tour opted not to increase their prize fund from its 2016 level of $10.5m, while both the US Open and Masters increased their treasure chests to $12m and $11m respectively.
In 2000 it became the first tournament in golf to pay its winner a seven-figure prize, beating all four Majors to the milestone.
This years top up means the Players Championship draws level with the Masters, which paid out $1.98m to this years champion Patrick Reed, but remains behind the US Open which made its 2017 champion Brooks Koepka the recipient of golfs largest pay cheque worth $2.2m.
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