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Saturday, February 21, 2026

The Masters Increases Purse to Record $21M, First Place to $4.2M

That’s up from the $20 million last year and $18 million in 2023. Sunday’s winner will receive $4.2 million.

The Masters
Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

The Masters Tournament will pay out a record $21 million in prize money this year, Augusta National Golf Club announced Saturday.

That’s up from the $20 million last year and $18 million in 2023. Sunday’s winner will receive a $4.2 million first-place prize, which represents a significant bump from the $3.6 million that Scottie Scheffler earned a year ago for clinching his second Green Jacket. In 2023, Jon Rahm won $3.24 million.

This year’s Masters purse total and first-place prize still remains behind the 2024 U.S. Open, which paid out $21.5 million, including $4.3 million to its winner, Bryson DeChambeau.

England’s Justin Rose topped the leaderboard after Friday at eight strokes under par, one stroke ahead of DeChambeau and two ahead of Rory McIlroy and Corey Conners.

The Masters stays ahead of last year’s PGA Championship ($18.5 million) and Open Championship ($17 million). Xander Schauffele won both of those titles, earning $3.3 million at Valhalla Golf Club in the U.S. and $3.1 million at Royal Troon in Scotland. Both of those tournaments are expected to slightly increase their total purses later this year, too, as is the U.S. Open.

The PGA Tour’s flagship event, the Players Championship, still has the highest purse in golf at $25 million. McIlroy earned $4.5 million for winning this year’s event, the same amount Scottie Scheffler took home in 2024.

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