The PGA Championship’s Prize Money Balancing Act

NEWTOWN SQUARE, Pa. — The 156-player field at the PGA Championship, which starts Thursday Aronimink Golf Club, is annually one of the strongest in golf. But the prize money up for grabs in recent years has lagged behind other majors and many other top-tier golf events.

“It’s a balanced approach,” PGA of America CEO Terry Clark said Wednesday when asked about the prize money strategy by Front Office Sports during his pre-tournament press conference.

The PGA of America, a separate organization from the PGA Tour, operates the PGA Championship and Ryder Cup, among other events.

This year’s purse will be announced Saturday morning, which is standard for the PGA Championship. Last year’s prize money was $19 million, up $500,000 from 2024 and a record for the tournament, but third out of the four major championships behind the U.S. Open ($21.5 million) and Masters, which paid out $21 million in 2025 and raised its 2026 purse to $22.5 million last month. The Open Championship paid out $17 million.

“It’s not always in comparison to all of [the other majors],” Clark said of the PGA Championship’s strategy. “What are the factors that make sense? We do look at it as an annual focus around how we get competitive purses.”

Last week, USGA CEO Mike Whan told FOS the U.S. Open’s prize money strategy is “not a race” with the Masters or anyone else.

Beyond the majors, the PGA Tour’s eight $20 million signature events all have larger purses than the PGA Championship, as does the tour’s $25 million Players Championship. So do all LIV Golf events, which are paying out $33 million this season ($23 million to players, $10 million to teams).

Happy With PGA Championship’s Identity

Clark, who was hired in February following former PGA of America CEO Derek Sprague after just one year, pushed back on two ideas that have been circulating about the future of the PGA Championship: Moving out of its current May date and back to August, and playing internationally.