It was a surprisingly star-studded field coming into the 2026 Rocket Classic, but it seemed like the winner might come down to a pair of lesser-known players as Davis Riley held a one-shot lead over Michael Brennan entering the final round. However, the tides quickly turned with Riley dropping back to the field while Rasmus Hojgaard and Xander Schauffele charged up the leaderboard. The result was setting up a thrilling finish at Detroit Golf Club with a nearly $2 million payout on the line from a record purse at this week's PGA Tour stop.
In the end, it was young Michael Thorbjornsen who charged the hardest, including a birdie on the 72nd hole to get his first career victory.
At this point, players are obviously showing up for the prize money — but it's also the final push before the season-ending playoff and the ludicrous prize money available in those events. Any of the leaders would love to get one step closer to East Lake and the Tour Championship, and the Rocket Classic payout would just be a feather in their cap along the way.
Rocket Classic winner's prize money, total purse for 2026
The winner of the 2026 Rocket Classic, Michael Thorbjornsen, will take home a whopping $1.8 million this week, the largest payout for a victor at this tournament in its relatively brief history on the PGA Tour. That, of course, is because the event has also raised its total purse to a record-high $10 million this year. It's the first time that the Rocket Classic has ever offered an eight-figure purse at this tournament, and it also marks the first tournament since The Open on the PGA Tour that has doled out eight figures in total prize money.
Rocket Classic payout distribution by finishing position
Finishing Position | Rocket Classic Prize Money |
|---|---|
Winner: Michael Thorbjornsen | $1.8 million |
2. Xander Schauffele | $1.09 million |
3. Davis Riley | $690,000 |
4. Rasmus Hojgaard | $490,000 |
T5. Hideki Matsuyama | $370,000 |
T5. Matt Wallace | $370,000 |
T5. Kristoffer Ventura | $370,000 |
T8. Davis Thompson | $252,500 |
T8. Ryan Gerard | $252,500 |
T8. Patrick Cantlay | $252,500 |
T8. Michael Kim | $252,500 |
T8. Chris Kirk | $252,500 |
T8. Rickie Fowler | $252,500 |
T8. Cameron Young | $252,500 |
T15. Doug Ghim | $162,500 |
T15. Keegan Bradley | $162,500 |
T15. Sungjae Im | $162,500 |
T15. Rico Hoey | $162,500 |
T15. Michael Brennan | $162,500 |
T20. Chandler Blanchet | $109,500 |
T20. Ricky Castillo | $109,500 |
T20. Corey Conners | $109,500 |
T20. Keita Nakajima | $109,500 |
T20. Russell Henley | $109,500 |
T20. Luke Clanton | $109,500 |
T26. Stephan Jaeger | $74,500 |
T26. Ben Kohles | $74,500 |
T26. Kevin Roy | $74,500 |
T26. Jacob Bridgeman | $74,500 |
T26. Mac Meissner | $74,500 |
T31. Emiliano Grillo | $57,214.29 |
T31. Jackson Koivun | $57,214.29 |
T31. Brandt Snedeker | $57,214.29 |
T31. Jordan Spieth | $57,214.29 |
T31. Jordan Smith | $57,214.29 |
T31. David Lipsky | $57,214.29 |
T31. Kevin Yu | $57,214.29 |
T38. Thorbjorn Olesen | $44,500 |
T38. Austin Eckroat | $44,500 |
T38. Justin Lower | $44,500 |
T38. Ben James | $44,500 |
T42. Joe Highsmith | $37,500 |
T42. Hank Lebioda | $37,500 |
T42. Si Woo Kim | $37,500 |
T45. Gordon Sargent | $29,780 |
T45. Marco Penge | $29,780 |
T45. Christiaan Bezuidenhout | $29,780 |
T45. Adrien Saddier | $29,780 |
T45. Beau Hossler | $29,780 |
T50. Neal Shipley | $23,860 |
T50. Max Greyserman | $23,860 |
T50. Adam Schenk | $23,860 |
T50. J.J. Spaun | $23,860 |
T50. Patrick Fishburn | $23,860 |
T50. Zac Blair | $23,860 |
T50. Jackson Suber | $23,860 |
T50. Matt Kuchar | $23,860 |
T50. Ryo Hisatsune | $23,860 |
T50. Matthew McCarty | $23,860 |
60. Johnny Keefer | $22,500 |
T61. Nicolai Hojgaard | $22,000 |
T61. Brian Campbell | $22,000 |
T61. Nick Taylor | $22,000 |
T61. Mark Hubbard | $22,000 |
T65. Karl Vilips | $21,300 |
T65. Zecheng Dou | $21,300 |
T65. Dylan Wu | $21,300 |
T68. Peter Malnati | $20,800 |
T68. William Mouw | $20,800 |
70. Adam Svensson | $20,500 |
T71. Tony Finau | $20,200 |
T71. Harris English | $20,200 |
73. Marcelo Rozo | $19,900 |
With the total Rocket Classic purse moving to $10 million, this will also be the first year that the runner-up will also get a payout over $1 million for the week. Furthermore, the payout distribution is pretty nice down the board, as only the last-place finisher among players to make the cut won't get at least $20,000 in prize money, while the Top 23 (before ties and split payouts) will all get at least $100,000 for their week of work.
Though this isn't going to set any records on the PGA Tour as a whole for the prize money available in Detroit this week, it is worth mentioning again that the purses have exclusively been under $10 million since the final major championship of the year. The fact that we're trending up at the Rocket Classic is probably one of the reasons why the event drew its strongest field perhaps ever.
Rocket Classic purse and winners in the last 5 years
Year | Winner | Winner's Prize Money | Total Purse |
|---|---|---|---|
2025 Rocket Classic | Aldrich Potgieter | $1.728 million | $9.6 million |
2024 Rocket Classic | Cam Davis | $1.656 million | $9.2 million |
2023 Rocket Classic | Rickie Fowler | $1.584 million | $8.8 million |
2022 Rocket Classic | Tony Finau | $1.512 million | $8.4 million |
2021 Rocket Classic | Cam Davis | $1.35 million | $7.5 million |
Speaking of the growing prize money at the Rocket Classic, you can see just how much the purse has grown over the last five years alone. For an event that wasn't even part of the PGA Tour schedule until 2019, it's quite impressive that the purse has already grown from $7.3 million that first year to $10 million this year.
Unfortunately, Rocket declined its option to sponsor an event on the PGA Tour in 2027, and there won't be a tournament in Detroit on the schedule. Though the tour has said it hopes to return to the area and perhaps Detroit Golf Club at some point in the future, it will be missed on next year's schedule.
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