A massive pool of FedEx Cup prize money will be divvied up this weekend — let’s discuss what the PGA Tour’s biggest stars stand to earn at the Tour Championship.
Remember when the PGA Tour and LIV Golf were involved in a world-historical feud, sued each other approximately 42,690 times (don’t look that up, it’s just science), and then agreed to merge like some kind of bizarro will-they-or-won’t-they sitcom plot resolution? Like, when the writers’ room is really, really out of ideas?
Well, from a US regulatory perspective, the chances that Saudi Arabia’s sovereign Public Investment Fund becomes the only major investor in the proposed venture are basically zero, but as it relates to dollar signs, the PGA Tour nonetheless got the memo — in today’s golf environment, you gotta pony up big-time.
The Tour Championship, which begins Thursday, Aug. 24 at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta, marks the finale of the FedEx Cup Playoffs, the PGA Tour’s trendy competition format that seeks to recognize the year’s best players overall. Is it The Masters? No. But you don’t get $18 million for winning The Masters.
Yes, $18 million.
There’s a lot to parse here, so let’s explain how the full $75 million load of FedEx Cup prize money really breaks down! With 2022 Masters champion Scottie Scheffler entering as the favorite to take the top prize as Viktor Hovland and Rory McIlroy nip at his heels, welcome to Boardroom’s 2023 Tour Championship payout party.
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2023 Tour Championship Payout Breakdown
TOTAL FEDEX CUP PRIZE MONEY: $75,000,000
1st PLACE PAYOUT: $18,000,000
2nd: $6,500,000
3rd: $5,000,000
4th: $4,000,000
5th: $3,000,000
6th: $2,500,000
7th: $2,000,000
8th: $1,500,000
9th: $1,250,000
10th: $1,000,000
11th: $950,000
12th: $900,000
13th: $850,000
14th: $800,000
15th: $760,000
16th: $720,000
17th: $700,000
18th: $680,000
19th: $660,000
20th: $640,000
21st: $620,000
22nd: $600,000
23rd: $580,000
24th: $565,000
25th: $550,000
26th: $540,000
27th: $530,000
28th: $520,000
29th: $510,000
30th: $500,000
An important final note — these figures are not actually Tour Championship prize money per se. Rather, they represent FedEx Cup payouts for the entire season of the competition; the Tour Championship simply represents the final event on the calendar. As a result, though just the top 30 golfers in the standings are competing this week at East Lake, 150 players will receive some share of the $75 million FedEx Cup prize money pool, with no bag smaller than $85,000.
All told, 125 competitors are guaranteed a six-figure check, but in one strict sense, the “official” Tour Championship payout is still zero. All that work for nothing, Scottie Scheffler! What a racket.
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