The TOUR Championship will this week bring the PGA Tour season to a close with one of the biggest prize funds in professional golf. The 30 players who survived the first two tournaments of the Playoffs will meet from 27 to 30 August at East Lake Golf Club, in Atlanta, to divide a $40 million purse.
There will be no stroke advantages or staggered starts based on the FedExCup standings. For the second consecutive year, everyone will start on an equal footing and contest a conventional 72-hole tournament. Whoever completes the four rounds with the fewest strokes will simultaneously win the TOUR Championship and the FedExCup. There will also be no cut, as is the case throughout the Playoffs.
The winner’s prize will be $10 million, exactly a quarter of the entire purse. The runner-up will receive $5 million and third place $3,705,000. The distribution continues downward to the $355,000 reserved for the player who finishes in the thirtieth and last place.
Money separate from the bonus distributed after the BMW
It is worth distinguishing between the two major payouts that close the season. The nearly $100 million distributed after the BMW Championship corresponds to the FedExCup bonus accumulated over the year. The $40 million purse of the TOUR Championship is an additional prize; it is considered official PGA Tour money and will count towards each player’s season earnings.
Therefore, the 30 qualifiers for East Lake already know the minimum they will add to their account this week: $355,000. From there, each position will have a huge financial impact. Finishing tenth, for example, means earning $735,000; breaking into the top five raises the prize to at least $2.75 million; and reaching the podium guarantees at least $3,705,000.
The effect of ties
The following table shows the prize assigned to each place when a player finishes alone in that position. In the event of a tie, the amounts corresponding to the occupied places are added together and the total is divided equally among the players involved.
Thus, two golfers tied for second would not each receive $5 million. The prizes for second and third — $5,000,000 and $3,705,000 — would be added and each would receive $4,352,500.
Full distribution of the TOUR Championship purse
| Final position | Prize |
|---|---|
| 1st | $10,000,000 |
| 2nd | $5,000,000 |
| 3rd | $3,705,000 |
| 4th | $3,200,000 |
| 5th | $2,750,000 |
| 6th | $1,900,000 |
| 7th | $1,400,000 |
| 8th | $1,065,000 |
| 9th | $900,000 |
| 10th | $735,000 |
| 11th | $695,000 |
| 12th | $660,000 |
| 13th | $625,000 |
| 14th | $590,000 |
| 15th | $560,000 |
| 16th | $505,000 |
| 17th | $490,000 |
| 18th | $475,000 |
| 19th | $460,000 |
| 20th | $445,000 |
| 21st | $430,000 |
| 22nd | $415,000 |
| 23rd | $400,000 |
| 24th | $390,000 |
| 25th | $380,000 |
| 26th | $375,000 |
| 27th | $370,000 |
| 28th | $365,000 |
| 29th | $360,000 |
| 30th | $355,000 |
The distribution adds up exactly to the $40 million announced by the PGA Tour. The difference between winning and finishing second amounts to $5 million; between second and third there is another $1,295,000; and between first and tenth there is a gulf of $9,265,000.
Entry to East Lake already represents one of the big prizes of the season on its own. The 30 participants have secured a place in the most exclusive tournament on the PGA Tour and a minimum cheque of $355,000. However, the real goal will be at the top: $10 million, the trophy of the TOUR Championship and the FedExCup crown for the player who survives the final 72 holes of the year best
