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Masters Payout 2021: Prize Money Payout for Top Players on Final Leaderboard
April 11, 2021
It's not very often that history seems inevitable, but that was the case for Hideki Matsuyama on Sunday.
Matsuyama entered the final round of the 2021 Masters with a commanding four-stroke lead and was on the brink of becoming the first men's major champion from Japan. All he needed was a solid round to hold off the competition at Augusta National Golf Club and become a Masters champion.
He finished the job by a single stroke.
Matsuyama shot a one-over 73 to bring his tournament total to 10-under. He cleared second-place finisher Will Zalatoris by the one stroke and won more than $2 million in the process.
Here is a look at the prize money payout for the top players on the leaderboard. The full payouts can be found at Augusta.com.
1. Hideki Matsuyama, $2.07 million
2. Will Zalatoris, $1.24 million
T3. Jordan Spieth
T3. Xander Schauffele
T5. Jon Rahm
T5. Marc Leishman
*The payout per slot coming into the tournament was designated as $782,000 for third place, $552,000 for fourth place and $460,000 for fifth place.
It looked as if the final round was going to be anything but straightforward for Matsuyama right out of the gates.
Not only did he bogey the first hole, but Zalatoris birdied the first two holes to immediately close the gap. That seemed to set the stage for a dramatic showdown between two players going for their first career major with talented threats such as Jordan Spieth and Jon Rahm looming.
Instead, Matsuyama birdied the second, eighth and ninth holes to close a brilliant front nine from his position, while Zalatoris bogeyed Nos. 3, 10 and 12.
It wasn't just the bogeys that cost the American. He three-putted multiple times while pursuing Matsuyama, including when he was putting for eagle on No. 13. There simply wasn't any room for such missed opportunities given the breathing room Matsuyama created for himself before he even started the back nine.
Those missed opportunities also opened the door for others to move into the lead challenger position, including Xander Schauffele who seized his chance to temporarily jump into second place.
The 27-year-old birdied 12, 13 and 14 to create some drama, which was dialed up for the first time on the back nine when Matsuyama bogeyed the 15th after hitting his approach shot in the water. Schauffele extended his birdie streak to four on that hole to climb within two strokes, making things all the more intriguing heading to the final stretch.
Unfortunately for Schauffele, his birdie streak and realistic chance at winning the Masters ended when his first shot on the par-three 16th went into the water.
Schauffele's triple-bogey gave Matsuyama enough cushion to bogey the 16th and 18th holes while still escaping with the green jacket.