Cam Young won the Players Championship Sunday, taking home a $4.5 million winner’s check—the largest individual prize in the PGA Tour’s regular season.
As the PGA Tour’s flagship event played annually at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra, Fla., the Players Championship offers a $25 million purse. That is second to only the playoff-concluding Tour Championship’s $40 million purse and $10 million first-place prize.
Young is the third player to win the $4.5 million Players Championship payout, following Rory McIlroy last year and Scottie Scheffler in 2024 and 2023. The victory takes Young’s PGA Tour career earnings to $31.23 million. This is the second victory for Young, 28, on the PGA Tour, after winning his first at the 2025 Wyndham Championship.
Matt Fitzpatrick finished one shot behind Young, and earned $2.725 million for second place. Xander Schauffele received $1.725 million for finishing third.
The Players Championship’s prize money is noticeably more than what was offered at any of the four major championships in 2025: the Masters ($21 million), PGA Championship ($19 million), U.S. Open ($21.5 million), and Open Championship ($17 million). Purses for the four majors in 2026 are expected to be similar, with some modest increases possible.
Despite the financial investment in the Players Championship, the PGA Tour last week put the brakes on what had been a growing push to elevate the tournament to major championship status.
Crowd Surge at TPC Sawgrass
The Players Championship set a new tournament record for ticket sales, a source tells Front Office Sports, as more than 200,000 fans attended the six days that were open to the public (two practice rounds and four competition rounds).
This weekend marked the first time in Players Championship history that tickets sold out on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The Players Championship used dynamic pricing, meaning face value costs fluctuated based on demand; general admission for the competition rounds typically sold for between $100-$120. On the secondary market, many tickets were selling for more than $200 each.
On Saturday, fan entry was delayed by 90 minutes after a shooting occurred just outside TPC Sawgrass late Friday night and the suspected gunman temporarily fled into the golf course property.
Looking ahead to 2027 and beyond, the exclusive Players Club, which sold just 750 weekly passes that cost $11,00 each, has a multi-year waiting list for interested newcomers.
