Look at how The Players Championship purses have astronomically climbed through the years

The main point of pride for the PGA Tour is that The Players Championship has the best field in golf, from top-to-bottom.

But they wouldn’t come running if there weren’t huge bucks on the line.

The Tour has made every effort to make The Players purse and the first-place payout the highest in professional golf, and that’s still the case — sort of.

This year’s Players will have a total purse of $25 million, the most on the PGA Tour and more than any of the four major championships. The winner will walk away with a check for $4.5 million. The total purse matches LIV Golf League events but the winner of LIV individual events earns $4 million.

The purses and first-place checks for the early years of The Players are modest by comparison. But back then it was still considered too much money to pass up for the game’s best players. Except for those players who have jumped to LIV Golf, that’s still the case.