After a number of close calls in recent years, Jason Day was finally able to break through and claim the first major championship of his career. He celebrated by hoisting the Wanamaker Trophy, and with it will come the biggest payout of his career. By winning the 2015 PGA Championship, Day took home the $1.8 million first-place purse prize.
2015 PGA Championship prize money: Jason Day takes home $1.8 million payout
Jason Day won his first major and earned the biggest purse of his career in the process.
Michael Madrid-USA TODAY Sports
Although he was yet to win a major championship, Day had won some significant tournaments in his career. Even still, the PGA Championship payout is the largest of his career, topping the $1.53 million he won when he took home the WGC-Accenture Match Play in 2014. His $1.8 million payday at the PGA Championship is significantly more and is tied with the U.S. Open, British Open, Masters and Players Championship for the biggest reward in golf.
Day is an accomplished player with more then $20 million in on-course earnings on the PGA Tour. The payday, however, is still a significant one. It’s more than he made in four of his nine seasons playing on the PGA Tour, and it also gives him by far his most lucrative season on Tour. With now three wins on the season, Day has earned more than $6 million on the course in 2015. The latest payday moved him to No. 2 on the PGA Tour money list, trailing only Jordan Spieth.
Spieth challenged Day, but had to settle for a second-place finish. That caps off an outstanding year in the majors where he won the Masters and U.S. Open, tied for fourth at the British Open and finished second at the PGA Championship. It’s not a win, but finishing second does come with a nice consolation prize, and Spieth earned $1.08 million for his effort. That’s actually his third-largest payout of the season and more than he earned by winning the John Deere Classic ($846,000), Valspar Championship ($1.06 million) and the Hero World Challenge ($1 million). Spieth has now earned more than $10.3 million this season, and by doing so became the first player to top $10 million in earnings in one season since Tiger Woods did in 2009. Woods currently owns the record for earnings in one season between the PGA and European tours at $11.5 million. Spieth has a good chance to top that with events to play.
With a $10 million purse, the PGA Championship was a lucrative event for several of the top finishers. The purse was designed for 21 players to take home at least $100,000, and without ties the top 10 would all win $250,000 or more. Ties ultimately factored in considerably, but 20 players won six figures.
Here is a look at the full payouts.
| Place | Player | Payout |
| 1 | Jason Day | $1,800,000 |
| 2 | Jordan Spieth | $1,080,000 |
| 3 | Branden Grace | $680,000 |
| 4 | Justin Rose | $480,000 |
| T5 | Brooks Koepka | $367,500 |
| T5 | Anirban Lahiri | $367,500 |
| T7 | George Coetzee | $293,000 |
| T7 | Matt Kuchar | $293,000 |
| T7 | Dustin Johnson | $293,000 |
| T10 | Robert Streb | $243,000 |
| T10 | Tony Finau | $243,000 |
| T12 | Martin Kaymer | $185,400 |
| T12 | David Lingmerth | $185,400 |
| T12 | Brendan Steele | $185,400 |
| T12 | Russell Henley | $185,400 |
| T12 | Brandt Snedeker | $185,400 |
| 17 | Rory McIlroy | $148,000 |
| T18 | Victor Dubuisson | $126,000 |
| T18 | Phil Mickelson | $126,000 |
| T18 | Justin Thomas | $126,000 |
| T21 | Bubba Watson | $97,666 |
| T21 | Hiroshi Iwata | $97,666 |
| T21 | Matt Jones | $97,666 |
| 24th | J.B. Holmes | $86,000 |
| T25 | Tyrrell Hatton | $74,600 |
| T25 | Cameron Smith | $74,600 |
| T25 | Henrik Stenson | $74,600 |
| T25 | Ernie Els | $74,600 |
| T25 | Billy Horschel | $74,600 |
| T30 | Louis Oosthuizen | $56,057 |
| T30 | Steve Stricker | $56,057 |
| T30 | Nick Watney | $56,057 |
| T30 | Rickie Fowler | $56,057 |
| T30 | Jim Furyk | $56,057 |
| T30 | Patrick Reed | $56,057 |
| T30 | Paul Casey | $56,057 |
| T37 | Ryan Moore | $39,200 |
| T37 | Vijay Singh | $39,200 |
| T37 | Hideki Matsuyama | $39,200 |
| T37 | Jason Bohn | $39,200 |
| T37 | Charl Schwartzel | $39,200 |
| T37 | Boo Weekley | $39,200 |
| T43 | Kevin Chappell | $30,000 |
| T43 | Lee Westwood | $30,000 |
| T43 | Danny Lee | $30,000 |
| T43 | Hunter Mahan | $30,000 |
| T43 | Luke Donald | $30,000 |
| T48 | Harris English | $25,750 |
| T48 | Y.E. Yang | $25,750 |
| T48 | Marc Warren | $25,750 |
| T48 | Marcel Siem | $25,750 |
| T48 | Thomas Bjorn | $25,750 |
| T48 | Scott Piercy | $25,750 |
| T54 | Troy Merritt | $22,500 |
| T54 | Sergio Garcia | $22,500 |
| T54 | Kevin Streelman | $22,500 |
| T54 | Mikko Ilonen | $22,500 |
| T54 | Danny Willett | $22,500 |
| T54 | Webb Simpson | $22,500 |
| T54 | Francesco Molinari | $22,500 |
| T61 | Keegan Bradley | $20,200 |
| T61 | Emiliano Grillo | $20,200 |
| T61 | Chesson Hadley | $20,200 |
| 64 | Sang-Moon Bae | $19,400 |
| T65 | Brendon de Jonge | $18,800 |
| T65 | Charles Howell III | $18,800 |
| T65 | Bill Haas | $18,800 |
| T68 | Nick Taylor | $18,200 |
| T68 | Kiradech Aphibarnrat | $18,200 |
| T68 | Jason Dufner | $18,200 |
| 71 | Brian Gaffney | $17,900 |
| T72 | J.J. Henry | $17,700 |
| T72 | Koumei Oda | $17,700 |
| T72 | Sean O'Hair | $17,700 |
| T75 | Carl Pettersson | $17,450 |
| T75 | Morgan Hoffmann | $17,450 |
| 77 | James Morrison | $17,300 |
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