Players Championship 2018 Payout: Breaking Down Prize Money Purse Distribution

The 2018 Players Championship will see a record purse on offer, with a total of $11 million on the line for the contenders at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida.

The winner is set to take home 18 per cent of the total prize money, which comes to a rather tidy sum of $1.98 million. That's the same amount as Patrick Reed pocketed for winning the 2018 Masters.

The runner-up will not do too badly, either. He will depart the tournament $1.188 million richer, according to Golf Digest.

2018 Players Championship Payouts

1st place: $1.98 million

2nd place: $1.188 million

3rd place: $748,000

4th place: $528,000

5th place: $440,000

6th place: $396,000

7th place: $368,500

8th place: $341,000

9th place: $319,000

10th place: $297,000

15th place: $198,000

20th place: $143,000

25th place: $96,800

30th place: $74,800

40th place: $47,300

50th place: $27,720

All figures courtesy of Golf Digest.

There's no shortage of contenders to win the tournament, which kicks off on Thursday, and an incredibly strong field should make for a great few days of golf.

Jordan Spieth will be aiming for his first win at Ponte Vedra and has said the tournament should be recognised as a major, per James Corrigan at the Telegraph.

Tiger Woods is back, and Spieth has spoken about how his presence affects other players in competition, as Sky Sports News shared:

Woods has been grouped with Phil Mickelson and Rickie Fowler for the first two rounds. The 42-year-old has spoken about how Mickelson helped him through his injury problems, per sports anchor Brad Galli:

The duo's rivalry should give the tournament an extra lift, but Rickie Fowler will also be hoping to make an impact.

Fowler has won this tournament before so knows exactly what it takes to top the leaderboard here. He also pushed Reed all the way in the Masters and is clearly a contender.

Rory McIlroy will also head into the tournament with high hopes. The Northern Irishman's attitude towards the tournament has changed, as golf writer Jason Sobel highlighted:

The 29-year-old is part of another exciting grouping along with Spieth and Justin Thomas. Thomas' game may not be perfectly suited for Sawgrass, but his tied-third-place finish in 2016 shows he can cope with its demands.

Dustin Johnson is another player who has found it tough going at this tournament and does not seem suited to the course. The American tops the PGA Tour rankings and is under pressure to perform.