One unique aspect of professional golf is the commission based payment structure with the best performing players at a given tournament receiving a greater chunk of the total purse. Winning a PGA tournament can be life changing with many tournaments offering multi-million dollar compensation packages to the winner.
The Players Championship is the most lucrative of all PGA events offering a purse of $25 million. The winner is awarded $4.5 million of the purse with the rest allocated to every golfer who made the cut. Trailing behind The Players Championship, there are 11 PGA events that offer a $20 million purse. The Arnold Palmer Invitational and The Memorial award $4 million to the winner while the rest offer $3.6 million.
Arguably the most prestigious tournament during the PGA calendar year, the Masters, offers an $20 million dollar prize purse with $3.6 million given to the winner of the green jacket. The CJ Cup Byron Nelson, RBC Canadian Open, and Valero Texas Open round out the top 15 with purses of $9.5 million, $9.4 million, and $9.2 million, respectively.
Top 15 Largest PGA Purses for 2024
Here is the full list of the top 15 PGA events with the largest purses for 2024. The list was compiled using data from PGA. Note that some tournament purses aren’t announced until the week before the tournament.
| Date | Tournament | Purse | Winner’s Share |
| March 9-12 | Players Championship | $25 million | $4.5 million |
| January 4-7 | The Sentry | $20 million | $3.6 million |
| February 1-3 | AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-AM | $20 million | $3.6 million |
| February 15-18 | Genesis Invitational | $20 million | $3.6 million |
| March 7-10 | Arnold Palmer Invitational | $20 million | $4 million |
| April 18-21 | RBC Heritage | $20 million | $3.6 million |
| May 9-12 | Wells Fargo Championship | $20 million | $3.6 million |
| June 6-9 | The Memorial | $20 million | $4 million |
| June 20-23 | The Travelers Championship | $20 million | $3.6 million |
| August 15-18 | FedEx St. Jude Championship | $20 million | $3.6 million |
| August 22-25 | BMW Championship | $20 million | $3.6 million |
| April 11-14 | The Masters | $20 million | $3.6 million |
| May 2-5 | The CJ Cup Byron Nelson | $9.5 million | $1.71 million |
| May 30- June 2 | RBC Canadian Open | $9.4 million | $1.692 million |
| April 4-7 | Valero Texas Open | $9.2 million | $1.656 million |
