The day started at the Northern Trust Open with the most stacked leaderboard of the young year. There were bombers and world-class millionaires all over the first page of the board. Bubba Watson led, and Rory McIlroy, Dustin Johnson, Adam Scott, Hideki Matsuyama, and Justin Rose were all within shouting distance. None of those guys really need another winner’s check.
Northern Trust Open purse: Jason Kokrak closing in on career payout at Riviera
A win on Sunday would deliver Kokrak a check that’s almost equal to the yearlong earnings of the best season of his career.
Harry How/Getty Images
But as we come down the stretch, it’s the relatively unknown and unheralded Jason Kokrak who is closing in on the first win of his career. Kokrak holds a two-shot lead with four holes to play and has been the one player on the board who has not looked sloppy or given away shots in this final round at Riviera. If you’re a close follower of the Tour then you’ve heard his name before, but he hasn’t exactly hauled in the cash over the years. He’s a bigger guy who drives the ball a mile, but has not found the winner’s circle.
Well, a win on Sunday in Los Angeles will net Kokrak a $1,224,000 first-place check. The purse at the Northern Trust Open is one of the richer prizes for a regular PGA Tour event (not counting the majors, WGCs, Players). The total is $6.8 million, the second-highest of the year so far behind last week’s $7 million purse at Pebble Beach.
Kokrak is facing a nervy final four holes, but even if he does give away that two-shot lead, he should cash a hefty six-figure check from wherever he lands on the leaderboard. As ESPN Golf noted, the winner’s check would just about equal the earnings of his best year on Tour ($1,267,525).
For comparison’s sake, Kokrak’s career earnings total $4,901,149, while Bubba Watson, his closest chaser, has banked $33,997,929.
We’ll update the official payout totals when the tournament goes final.
UPDATE: Welp, Kokrak opened the door for Bubba over the final four holes, and the 2014 winner at Riviera took advantage to win again and take home another $1 million-plus paycheck. The final payout totals:
| Place | Player | Score | Payout |
| 1 | Bubba Watson | -15 | $1,224,000 |
| T2 | Adam Scott | -14 | $598,400 |
| T2 | Jason Kokrak | -14 | $598,400 |
| 4 | Dustin Johnson | -13 | $326,400 |
| T5 | Marc Leishman | -12 | $258,400 |
| T5 | K.J. Choi | -12 | $258,400 |
| 7 | Chez Reavie | -11 | $227,800 |
| T8 | Matt Kuchar | -10 | $204,000 |
| T8 | Sung-hoon Kang | -10 | $204,000 |
| 10 | Ryan Moore | -9 | $183,600 |
| T11 | Martin Laird | -8 | $144,160 |
| T11 | J.B. Holmes | -8 | $144,160 |
| T11 | Steve Stricker | -8 | $144,160 |
| T11 | Troy Merritt | -8 | $144,160 |
| T11 | Hideki Matsuyama | -8 | $144,160 |
| T16 | Ben Martin | -7 | $105,400 |
| T16 | Adam Hadwin | -7 | $105,400 |
| T16 | Justin Leonard | -7 | $105,400 |
| T16 | Justin Rose | -7 | $105,400 |
| T20 | Seung-yul Noh | -6 | $73,667 |
| T20 | William McGirt | -6 | $73,667 |
| T20 | Jamie Lovemark | -6 | $73,667 |
| T20 | Luke List | -6 | $73,667 |
| T20 | Tyrone van Aswegen | -6 | $73,667 |
| T20 | Rory McIlroy | -6 | $73,667 |
| T26 | Gary Woodland | -5 | $44,385 |
| T26 | Nick Taylor | -5 | $44,385 |
| T26 | Aaron Baddeley | -5 | $44,385 |
| T26 | Ricky Barnes | -5 | $44,385 |
| T26 | Harold Varner, III | -5 | $44,385 |
| T26 | Carlos Ortiz | -5 | $44,385 |
| T26 | Kyle Reifers | -5 | $44,385 |
| T26 | Ernie Els | -5 | $44,385 |
| T26 | Stuart Appleby | -5 | $44,385 |
| T26 | Jon Curran | -5 | $44,385 |
| T26 | Kevin Chappell | -5 | $44,385 |
| T37 | Spencer Levin | -4 | $32,640 |
| T37 | Camilo Villegas | -4 | $32,640 |
| T39 | David Toms | -3 | $27,200 |
| T39 | Harris English | -3 | $27,200 |
| T39 | Scott Brown | -3 | $27,200 |
| T39 | Anirban Lahiri | -3 | $27,200 |
| T39 | Brendan Steele | -3 | $27,200 |
| T39 | Paul Casey | -3 | $27,200 |
| T45 | Stewart Cink | -2 | $19,059 |
| T45 | Charl Schwartzel | -2 | $19,059 |
| T45 | Fabian Gomez | -2 | $19,059 |
| T45 | Luke Donald | -2 | $19,059 |
| T45 | Vijay Singh | -2 | $19,059 |
| T45 | Padraig Harrington | -2 | $19,059 |
| T45 | Retief Goosen | -2 | $19,059 |
| T52 | Francesco Molinari | -1 | $16,184 |
| T52 | Patton Kizzire | -1 | $16,184 |
| T54 | Jamie Donaldson | E | $15,504 |
| T54 | Justin Thomas | E | $15,504 |
| T54 | Derek Fathauer | E | $15,504 |
| T54 | Billy Horschel | E | $15,504 |
| T54 | Mark Hubbard | E | $15,504 |
| T59 | Ben Crane | 1 | $14,892 |
| T59 | Will MacKenzie | 1 | $14,892 |
| T59 | Chris Stroud | 1 | $14,892 |
| T59 | Carl Pettersson | 1 | $14,892 |
| T63 | Andrew Loupe | 2 | $14,416 |
| T63 | Charley Hoffman | 2 | $14,416 |
| T63 | Cameron Smith | 2 | $14,416 |
| T66 | J.J. Henry | 3 | $14,076 |
| T66 | Chad Collins | 3 | $14,076 |
| T68 | Cameron Tringale | 4 | $13,668 |
| T68 | Andy Sullivan | 4 | $13,668 |
| T68 | Morgan Hoffmann | 4 | $13,668 |
| T68 | Jason Dufner | 4 | $13,668 |
| T72 | Brian Harman | 5 | $13,260 |
| T72 | Mark Wilson | 5 | $13,260 |
| T72 | Charlie Danielson | 5 | $0 |
| 75 | Charles Howell III | 6 | $13,056 |
| 76 | Rhein Gibson | 7 | $12,920 |
See More:
