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Players Championship 2019 Payout: Breaking Down Prize-Money Purse Distribution
March 14, 2019
The 2019 Players Championship will be the richest individual event in golfing history, with the competition boasting a $12.5 million (£9.485 million) prize fund.
Despite not being considered a major, the tournament has increased its purse by $1.5 million for the latest edition, surpassing the prize money on offer at the U.S. Open.
TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, will host The Players, which begins on Thursday, with Tiger Woods, Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, Justin Rose and Dustin Johnson present and ready to battle for the title.
The winner is set to scoop $2.25 million (£1.7 million). Individual prize-money values for The Players have yet to be confirmed.
The PGA Tour previewed the tournament:
Johnson enters the tournament as the world No. 1 and is the favourite alongside McIlroy to claim the title, according to Oddschecker.
Two-time champion Woods is 25-1 to win and arrived in Florida in good shape, per Golfweek's Steve DiMeglio:
Webb Simpson is the defending champion, but the world No. 21 will have to produce his best golf to hold off a world-class field.
The American stunned the world by winning the previous competition by four strokes, and will tee off in a group with Woods and Patrick Reed at 1:27 p.m. ET (5:27 p.m. GMT).
McIlroy will fly the flag for his huge fanbase, but the 29-year-old has failed to win a tournament in the past 12 months.
However, the Northern Irishman is displaying consistency, and he could break his duck at Sawgrass.
McIlroy isn't concerned about his form, per Today's Golfer.
"It doesn't matter if you're final group, fifth group, it's golf at the end of the day, it really doesn't matter. I'm playing well, I would much rather be putting myself in position to have a chance to win. I'm playing good golf, it doesn't matter if I'm playing that golf on Thursday, Friday, Saturday -- yeah, my Sundays haven't been what I would have liked, but I'm putting myself in that position, so good golf is good golf, I keep saying that, at the end of the day."
McIlroy has shown glimpses of his most dangerous golf, and his confidence appears unaffected by his recent lack of success.
The superstar needs a win before the majors pile up. If he captures The Players crown, he will have positioned himself for repeated victories as the year unfolds.