On Sunday at TPC Sawgrass, players will battle it out for the big 2026 Players Championship purse, with payouts breaking seven figures for some winners.
With 18 holes to play, Ludwig Aberg appears to have his sights set on his first Players Championship trophy. With a win, Aberg would take home the biggest player payout of all, a whopping $4.5 million share of the winnings.
This is the biggest winner check in professional golf, as it was last year when Rory McIlroy took the Players title.
You can only take out the winner’s share of the biggest purse in golf; the players’ total championship purse is $25 million.
;)
Dylan Dethier
Aberg’s biggest cash prize so far in his career came at the 2025 Genesis Invitational. That week he took home $4 million for his troubles. It goes to players week, Aberg’s Career earnings on the PGA Tour were $22,793,388.
That is if he lifts the Players’ trophy on Sunday at TPC Sawgrasshe will increase his career earnings with almost 20 percent.
Michael Thorbjornsen heads into Sunday in second place, three strokes behind Aberg. If Thorbjornsen were to overtake Aberg and steal the win, the impact on his career earnings would be even more dramatic.
A 24-year-old from Ohio, Thorbjornsen has already played 51 PGA Tour events in his career (Aberg, 26, has played 61 events). During these tournaments, he has won $4,281,178.
A Players Championship triumph on Sunday for Thorbjornsen, which would be his first PGA Tour win, would more than doubling his career tournament earnings.
But if he plays well, Thorbjornsen will do well even if he can’t beat Aberg. The payouts for the top five players in this year’s Players Championship all exceed $1 million.
You can see the full payout breakdown of The Players Championship 2026 below.
Players Championship 2026 payout for any player
First: $4,500,000
Second: $2,725,000
Third: $1,725,000
4: $1,225,000
Fifth: $1,025,000
6: $906,250
7: $843,750
8: $781,250
9: $731,250
10: $681,250
11: $631,250
12: $581,250
13: $531,250
14: $481,250
15: $456,250
16: $431,250
17: $406,250
18: $381,250
19: $356,250
20: $331,250
21: $306,250
22: $281,250
23: $261,250
24: $241,250
25: $221,250
26: $201,250
27: $193,750
28: $186,250
29: $178,750
30: $171,250
31: $163,750
32: $156,250
33: $148,750
34: $142,500
35: $136,250
36: $130,000
37: $123,750
38: $118,750
39: $113,750
40th: $108,750
41: $103,750
42: $98,750
43: $93,750
44: $88,750
45: $83,750
46: $78,750
47: $73,750
48: $69,750
49: $66,250
50th: $64,250
51: $62,750
52: $61,250
53: $60,250
54: $59,250
55: $58,750
56: $58,250
57: $57,750
58: $57,250
59: $56,750
60: $56,250
61: $55,750
62: $55,250
63: $54,750
64: $54,250
65: $53,750
