The 2026 Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club offered some new looks for the final event of the FedEx Cup Playoffs. The PGA Tour did away with starting strokes and was allowing the champion this week to be determined by the 72 holes played at the historic course in the Metro Atlanta area. But the one thing that certainly didn't change for the Tour Championship was the absurdly high amount of prize money and the total purse this week at East Lake.
Scottie Scheffler, as you'd expect, wanted to grab the winner's prize money this week at the Tour Championship, a win that would all but guarantee him PGA Tour Player of the Year. But Viktor Hovland, and to a lesser degree Chris Gotterup, weren't about to back down and just hand it to him. That set up a thrilling finish, ultimately with Scheffler outrunning the field in the final holes. And such a dramatic Sunday was only amplified by the ridiculous Tour Championship prize money and payouts hanging in the balance.
Tour Championship winner's prize money, total purse for 2026
As the winner of the 2026 Tour Championship, Scottie Scheffler will take home a ridiculous $10 million this week in prize money. That's absurd to consider when there are so many events on the PGA Tour — basically any tournament not designated a signature event — that don't have a total purse that reaches that $10 million mark. But when you then consider that the total purse for the Tour Championship is at $40 million this year, you start to see just how crazy the payouts are for the Top 30 for the season.
Tour Championship prize money and payout distribution by finishing position
Finishing Position | Tour Championship Prize Money |
|---|---|
Winner: Scottie Scheffler | $10 million |
2. Viktor Hovland | $5 million |
3. Ryan Gerard | $3.705 million |
T4. Alex Fitzpatrick | $1,707,142.86 |
T4. Jacob Bridgeman | $1,707,142.86 |
T4. Min Woo Lee | $1,707,142.86 |
T4. Russell Henley | $1,707,142.86 |
T4. Rory McIlroy | $1,707,142.86 |
T4. Chris Gotterup | $1,707,142.86 |
T4. Ludvig Åberg | $1,707,142.86 |
T11. Tommy Fleetwood | $660,000 |
T11. Cameron Young | $660,000 |
T11. Adam Scott | $660,000 |
T14. Xander Schauffele | $536,250 |
T14. Tom Kim | $536,250 |
T14. Collin Morikawa | $536,250 |
T14. Si Woo Kim | $536,250 |
T18. Akshay Bhatia | $460,000 |
T18. Justin Rose | $460,000 |
T18. Sam Burns | $460,000 |
T21. Patrick Cantlay | $408,750 |
T21. Hideki Matsuyama | $408,750 |
T21. Matt Fitzpatrick | $408,750 |
T21. Wyndham Clark | $408,750 |
25. Kristoffer Reitan | $380,000 |
26. Ryan Fox | $375,000 |
27. Alex Smalley | $370,000 |
28. Robert MacIntyre | $365,000 |
29. Gary Woodland | $360,000 |
There were originally 30 players in the field for the Tour Championship, but J.J. Spaun withdrew early in the tournament, leaving us with only 29 players.
It should be noted, however, that the money awarded at the Tour Championship does not count toward PGA Tour career winnings. Technically, it is considered bonus money in the FedEx Cup Playoffs, which is then awarded by performance in the tournament at East Lake. But the fact of the matter is that getting your share of the $40 million purse is all about qualifying to be in the final 30 players of the playoffs.
Of course, I can't imagine any of the players actually complaining about how the history books discern their winnings this week at East Lake. At the end of the day, their bank accounts will still end up with a good bump that we're looking for.
Changes keep coming to the Tour Championship, including match play
We've already seen the Tour Championship change coming into this year, but even bigger changes are on the horizon. This year, the PGA Tour elected to do away with the controversial starting strokes that were determined by the FedEx Cup standings coming into the final for the playoffs. Instead, all players started at even-par and then the winner was purely determined by the 72 holes.
As for the bigger changes, though, it's going to be more than just doing away with starting strokes — it's match play, baby!
That's right, the PGA Tour announced a few weeks ago that the Tour Championship will switch to a two-week-long match play format. Especially since the departure of the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play on tour, golf fans have been yearning for an event. Making it the Tour Championship should only add to that. Even better, there will always be constant matches to determine the order for the prize money when it's all said and done.
What's more, this switch to match play will change up the settings as well. Yes, we still expect East Lake to be involved in the Tour Championship. However, there will be opportunities to go to other courses that potentially we don't get to see as often (or ever) on the PGA Tour for a number of reasons. On the whole, though, this is both a fascinating and exciting change coming to the highest levels of golf.
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