The Memorial golf tournament payout: Bubba Watson chasing $1.116 million of $6.2M purse

The Memorial tournament is one of the more prestigious non-major events on the PGA Tour schedule. The course, Muirfield Village, is the design masterpiece and unofficial home of Jack Nicklaus and the imprimatur of 18-time major winner always draws a loaded field. It’s one of the bigger titles available all season, but the purse is on the smaller side for the modern PGA Tour rota.

A $6.2 million purse is up for grabs at Muirfield Village, and the winner will earn a $1.116 million check. As the leaders make their way through the back nine, three big money superstars are battling for first place. Bubba Watson started the day with the 54 hole lead, looking for his third win of the year and a victory that would probably lock up a Player of the Year award in September. He’s already a lock for the Ryder Cup, and a win at another prestigious event would settle him at the top of the FedExCup rankings. It would also add to his huge 2014 cash haul, boosting this season’s earnings alone to $5,673,079. A seventh career PGA title would increase his career earnings to just shy of $25 million.

HIdeki Matsuyama and Adam Scott have been the two biggest challengers for Bubba on Sunday. A win would be the first on the PGA Tour for the Japanese phenom Matsuyama, who already has $1,939,509 (and millions more overseas) in career earnings at just 22-years old. Matsuyama is going to win on the American tour, and probably very soon -- he’s been just too competitive in almost all the big events over the past 15 months. A win by Matsuyama on Sunday would be enormous for world golf, even if Bubba’s victory would garner more publicity.

Matsuyama’s playing partner is Adam Scott, who was also his partner at this same venue for the Presidents Cup last October. Scott has settled in nicely as the new No. 1 player in the world, and a win would be the first back-to-back sequence since Rory picked up two consecutive victories in the 2012 FedExCup. A win for Scott would mean he’s earned $2,268,000 in a seven-day stretch. The money might be secondary for Scott at this point, as he’s going for titles and prepping for a second run at a major at Pinehurst next week. He should pass the $43 million mark in career earnings on Sunday, regardless of whether he wins. A victory would push his season earnings to $3,364,650.

Update: Matsuyama birdied the 18th hole to force a playoff then sunk a 10-foot par putt on the first playoff hole to claim the Memorial title and the first-place purse. Here is a complete look at the payout: