Masters Payout 2018: Latest Projections for Top Prize-Money Earners

All the players competing in the Masters will talk about the glory of winning a major tournament, perhaps the most important tournament of them all.

Getting the green jacket and having a place at the table with the game's legends is what all the top professional golfers want.

The money? It's not usually among the items that are discussed. But it is very important on its own, and the players who fighting for the title will get a huge payoff.

That's because the Masters has an enormous prize pool of $11 million, and it represents a massive payday for all of the top-10 golfers.

Chris Carlson/Associated Press

Here's a look at how the Masters pays off its competitors, per Golf Digest.

Here's how we see the money being disbursed to the top 10 finishers.

1. Rory McIlroy, $1,980,000
2. Patrick Reed, $1,188,000
3. Jon Rahm, $748,000
4. Rickie Fowler, $528,000
5. Tommy Fleetwood, $440,000
6. Louis Oosthuizen, $396,000
7. Henrik Stenson, $368,500
8. Marc Leishman, $341,000
9. Jordan Spieth, $319,000
10. Dustin, Johnson, $297,000

Compare that list to the leaderboard at the end of the third round. 

McIlroy is trailing Reed by three strokes at the end of the third round, and there have been no indications that the leader would have any serious problems in the final round.

However, we are anticipating that McIlroy will have a strong finish while Reed has just a few problems on the back nine of Sunday's round. That's when the Masters is often won or lost.

McIlroy appears quite confident and powerful, and the chance to complete his first grand slam should spur him to the title. He has not been in the final group of the Masters since 2011, and he is hungry for his first green jacket.

It may be a bit of a long shot to predict anyone other than Reed winning the title after shooting rounds of 69-66-67, but he has never held the lead in the final round of the Masters and that is a pressure-filled assignment. It seems quite likely to have an impact.

Reed will have a tough time accepting the defeat, but he can take some solace knowing perhaps the best player in the world caught him while playing at the peak of his game.

Rahm regularly shows off his power and the ability to string bridies together. Fowler is also in contention and he desperately wants to string excellent rounds together and win the Masters. While he is not going to come away with the green jacket this year, he is looking like he could take any of the majors that follow this year.

Fleetwood has been one of the game's top performers on the European Tour, and he has shown himself to be an excellent competitor when he comes to the United States. Fleetwood is coming off a six under par 66 Saturday, and he could easily come close to that figure Sunday.