PGA Championship 2026: Here's the record prize money payout for each golfer at Aronimink

The rapid rise in prize money payouts in golf have been a provocative topic in all circles of the sport. The launch of LIV Golf and its megamillion-dollar purses forced the PGA Tour to offer more as well, creating exponential leaps that in the short run made sense to stave off a looking competitor but in the long run created questions of fiscal sustainability. Meanwhile, caught in the backdraft were the major championships, previously sporting among the largest paydays in the game only to fall behind and have to make tough decisions on whether they’d increase their purses at a similar rate.

New R&A chief Mark Darbon lamented the problem, noting the zero-sum effect that increase in prize money have on funding the governing bodies other initiatives. Not surprisingly, then, when new PGA of America CEO Terry Clark met with the media for the first time on Wednesday ahead of the PGA Championship, he, too, was asked about purses and how much longer they could continue going up. The topic came with a subtle change in context given LIV Golf’s uncertain future now that the PIF won’t be funding them past this year and whether prize money payout had finally plateaued.

The specific question for Clark was what was his approach in general to making sure the PGA Championship continues competitive with its purse but staying financially responsible? Here’s his response: “Yeah, it's a balanced approach. … We're really focused on all aspects of how do we improve and continue to look at improvement at the assets we have, including PGA Championships.

This is a really important one. Obviously, it's something we look at every year. ” Despite the cautious tone, the PGA of America announced on Saturday morning that this year's prize money payout would be a record $20 million, a $1 million increase from a year ago, with the winner earning $3.