WGC-Accenture Match Play 2014 purse: Jason Day big winner at one of biggest money events

Jason Day is still only 26 years old, but he was at a stage in his career where the money was clearly secondary to finally breaking through for his second win. Day has piled up tons of cash, hovering around or inside the top 10 in the world and racking up top 10s regularly, including at the major championships. But despite all that talent and being a constant factor at the game’s biggest events, amazingly, Day had just one career win on the PGA Tour, and that was almost four years ago.

So Sunday’s 39-hole slog through the semis and finals of the Accenture Match Play championship was the biggest win of his career, a relief, a boost heading into the majors where he’s already one of the favorites, and well, also extremely profitable. The four WGC events actually have larger purses than three of the four majors championships. Last year they had the largest purses of any tournament besides the Players Championship. The Players and PGA Championship announced at the end of last year that they were pushing their purses towards $10 million, but at $9 million, the WGC titles are still clear of the Masters, U.S. Open, and British Open by $1 million.

That $9 million purse also pays out $1.53 million to the winner, so Day is closing in on $18 million in total career earnings and that’s just with two wins. There will be more million dollar paydays in his future, but Sunday was more about getting the win than one of the biggest winner’s checks of the year. It looked like he would close out relatively obscure Frenchman Victor Dubuisson on the 16th or 17th hole, but two hours and two of the wildest and greatest recovery shots later, Day finally finished off the classic final on the 23rd hole.

All four WGC events are pretty exclusive, closed door tourneys where only the best in the Official World Golf Rankings gain entry. It’s sometimes criticized because it perpetuates those at the top regardless of play, offering them huge opportunities at points and cash that many other players don’t get, and thus giving them an advantage to stay near the top of the world rankings. Of course, you have to play your way into that club at one point or another, winning a tournament or two and that’s how most of the 64 golfers got in this week.

The Match Play is an especially good deal for those top 64, handing out a check of nearly $50,000 just for showing up and getting knocked out in the first round. All of the WGC titles are no-cut tourneys, so you’re always making money and this is a great one to earn a good chunk for doing little (unless you’re from a distant land abroad and have to pay lots of cash to travel for a one-day stay). Here’s a chart outlining the kind of big money we’re talking about at the WGC events and the Match Play.