Jason Day is at the point of his career where he does not need to worry about the money. But he’s not going to turn down the richest winner’s check in the game, a massive $1,890,000 payout from the $10.5 million purse at The Players Championship. The win means more to Day, which he said might be enough to push him into the World Golf Hall of Fame. All that cash, however, is not bad either.
The Players Championship purse 2016: Jason Day takes home $1.9 million in prize money
The Players boasts the richest purse in the game, and while the No. 1 player in the world is certainly well off, he’s now the owner of the most lucrative winner’s check in golf.
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Day piles up paper like no one in the game right now. This was his seventh win in his last 17 starts, a pace that only Tiger Woods really knows about in the modern era. His wins have not come at some chump events either, taking a WGC title, Bay Hill and the PGA Championship. That major boasted the richest purse in the game along with The Players last year at $10 million, but the boys at the PGA Tour had enough of that “tie for first” and bumped theirs $500k in 2016.
Day is just 28 years old and now has $33.3 million in career earnings. It’s an absurd total, but he’s still just getting going.
This is the PGA Tour’s marquee event. They do not control or operate any of the four majors, so they pour a ton of money into The Players and make sure its field is the strongest of the year and its payouts are the most lucrative. The Masters does not discuss money matters, but the PGA Tour is happy to puff their chests out about having the richest purse in the game. The money arms race among The Players and the majors should have a winner making $2 million pretty soon -- Day’s check this year is just about there.
The second-place finisher is also taking home seven figures, which is just as eye-opening as that winner’s prize. Kevin Chappell was the big winner there, earning $1,134,000 as the runner-up. Chappell is not hurting for cash with $8,673,123 in career earnings, but he’s never won on Tour and this is the biggest payday of his career.
Here are the final payout totals from TPC Sawgrass:
| Place | Player | Score | Payout |
| 1 | Jason Day | -15 | $1,890,000 |
| 2 | Kevin Chappell | -11 | $1,134,000 |
| T3 | Justin Thomas | -10 | $504,000 |
| T3 | Matt Kuchar | -10 | $504,000 |
| T3 | Colt Knost | -10 | $504,000 |
| T3 | Ken Duke | -10 | $504,000 |
| T7 | Francesco Molinari | -9 | $338,625 |
| T7 | Hideki Matsuyama | -9 | $338,625 |
| T9 | Graeme McDowell | -8 | $283,500 |
| T9 | Daniel Berger | -8 | $283,500 |
| T9 | Alex Cejka | -8 | $283,500 |
| T12 | Adam Scott | -7 | $212,625 |
| T12 | Rory McIlroy | -7 | $212,625 |
| T12 | Bryce Molder | -7 | $212,625 |
| T12 | Retief Goosen | -7 | $212,625 |
| T16 | Boo Weekley | -6 | $168,000 |
| T16 | Shane Lowry | -6 | $168,000 |
| T16 | Cameron Tringale | -6 | $168,000 |
| T19 | Justin Rose | -5 | $131,775 |
| T19 | Russell Knox | -5 | $131,775 |
| T19 | Jerry Kelly | -5 | $131,775 |
| T19 | Jonas Blixt | -5 | $131,775 |
| T23 | Paul Casey | -4 | $93,450 |
| T23 | Scott Piercy | -4 | $93,450 |
| T23 | Ryan Palmer | -4 | $93,450 |
| T23 | Daniel Summerhays | -4 | $93,450 |
| T23 | Si Woo Kim | -4 | $93,450 |
| T28 | Dustin Johnson | -3 | $68,325 |
| T28 | David Hearn | -3 | $68,325 |
| T28 | Vijay Singh | -3 | $68,325 |
| T28 | Billy Horschel | -3 | $68,325 |
| T28 | J.J. Henry | -3 | $68,325 |
| T28 | Louis Oosthuizen | -3 | $68,325 |
| T28 | Gary Woodland | -3 | $68,325 |
| T35 | Jim Furyk | -2 | $52,894 |
| T35 | Keegan Bradley | -2 | $52,894 |
| T35 | Brooks Koepka | -2 | $52,894 |
| T35 | Danny Lee | -2 | $52,894 |
| T39 | Jon Curran | -1 | $44,100 |
| T39 | Chad Campbell | -1 | $44,100 |
| T39 | Martin Kaymer | -1 | $44,100 |
| T39 | Adam Hadwin | -1 | $44,100 |
| T43 | James Hahn | E | $33,670 |
| T43 | Soren Kjeldsen | E | $33,670 |
| T43 | Bill Haas | E | $33,670 |
| T43 | K.J. Choi | E | $33,670 |
| T43 | Bubba Watson | E | $33,670 |
| T43 | William McGirt | E | $33,670 |
| T49 | Morgan Hoffmann | 1 | $25,914 |
| T49 | Freddie Jacobson | 1 | $25,914 |
| T49 | Jason Dufner | 1 | $25,914 |
| T49 | Bernd Wiesberger | 1 | $25,914 |
| T49 | Zac Blair | 1 | $25,914 |
| T54 | Zach Johnson | 2 | $24,150 |
| T54 | Brian Harman | 2 | $24,150 |
| T54 | Sergio Garcia | 2 | $24,150 |
| T57 | Branden Grace | 3 | $23,100 |
| T57 | Jhonattan Vegas | 3 | $23,100 |
| T57 | Harold Varner, III | 3 | $23,100 |
| T57 | Ian Poulter | 3 | $23,100 |
| T57 | Hudson Swafford | 3 | $23,100 |
| T57 | Brendan Steele | 3 | $23,100 |
| T57 | Brendon de Jonge | 3 | $23,100 |
| T64 | Jamie Lovemark | 4 | $21,735 |
| T64 | Johnson Wagner | 4 | $21,735 |
| T64 | Marc Leishman | 4 | $21,735 |
| T64 | Kyle Reifers | 4 | $21,735 |
| T64 | Ernie Els | 4 | $21,735 |
| T64 | Sean O'Hair | 4 | $21,735 |
| 70 | Camilo Villegas | 5 | $21,000 |
| 71 | Steve Wheatcroft | 6 | $20,790 |
| T72 | Shawn Stefani | 7 | $20,475 |
| T72 | Will Wilcox | 7 | $20,475 |
| T74 | Kevin Streelman | 8 | $20,055 |
| T74 | Fabian Gomez | 8 | $20,055 |
| 76 | Patton Kizzire | 12 | $19,740 |
* * *
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