On Sunday at TPC Sawgrass, players will be fighting for the enormous 2026 Players Championship purse, with payouts breaking seven figures for several finishers.
With 18 holes to play, Ludvig Aberg seems to have his eye on his first Players Championship trophy. With a victory, Aberg would take home the largest Players payout of them all, a gargantuan winner’s share of $4.5 million.
That’s the biggest winner’s check in professional golf, as it was last year when Rory McIlroy took home the Players title.
You can only extract the largest winner’s share from the biggest purse in golf; the total Players Championship purse equals $25 million.
;)
At Players, two leaders have a fascinating past — and present
Dylan Dethier
Aberg’s biggest winner’s prize so far in his career came at the 2025 Genesis Invitational. That week he took home $4 million for his troubles. Heading into Players week, Aberg’s career earnings on the PGA Tour stood at $22,793,388.
That means if he hoists the Players trophy on Sunday at TPC Sawgrass, he’ll increase his career earnings by nearly 20 percent.
Michael Thorbjornsen heads into Sunday in second place, three shots behind Aberg. If Thorbjornsen were to overcome Aberg and steal the win, the impact on his career earnings would be even more dramatic.
A 24-year-old Ohio native, Thorbjornsen has already played 51 PGA Tour events in his career (Aberg, 26, has played 61 events). Over those tournaments, he’s earned $4,281,178.
A Players Championship triumph on Sunday for Thorbjornsen, which would be his first PGA Tour win, would more than double his career Tour earnings.
But if he plays well, Thorbjornsen will do just fine even if he doesn’t beat Aberg. Payouts for the top-five finishers at this year’s Players Championship all exceed $1 million.
You can see the full 2026 Players Championship payout breakdown below.
2026 Players Championship payout for every player
1st: $4,500,000
2nd: $2,725,000
3rd: $1,725,000
4th: $1,225,000
5th: $1,025,000
6th: $906,250
7th: $843,750
8th: $781,250
9th: $731,250
10th: $681,250
11th: $631,250
12th: $581,250
13th: $531,250
14th: $481,250
15th: $456,250
16th: $431,250
17th: $406,250
18th: $381,250
19th: $356,250
20th: $331,250
21st: $306,250
22nd: $281,250
23rd: $261,250
24th: $241,250
25th: $221,250
26th: $201,250
27th: $193,750
28th: $186,250
29th: $178,750
30th: $171,250
31st: $163,750
32nd: $156,250
33rd: $148,750
34th: $142,500
35th: $136,250
36th: $130,000
37th: $123,750
38th: $118,750
39th: $113,750
40th: $108,750
41st: $103,750
42nd: $98,750
43rd: $93,750
44th: $88,750
45th: $83,750
46th: $78,750
47th: $73,750
48th: $69,750
49th: $66,250
50th: $64,250
51st: $62,750
52nd: $61,250
53rd: $60,250
54th: $59,250
55th: $58,750
56th: $58,250
57th: $57,750
58th: $57,250
59th: $56,750
60th: $56,250
61st: $55,750
62nd: $55,250
63rd: $54,750
64th: $54,250
65th: $53,750