When Roger Maltbie won the inaugural edition of the Memorial Tournament in 1976, beating Hale Irwin with a birdie on the fourth extra hole, he earned $40,000 from an overall prize money payout of $200,000.
Suffice it to say, times have changed.
With the 50th anniversary of the tournament that Jack Nicklaus’ built going on this week, the now PGA Tour signature event has a $20 million purse with the winner claiming a $4 million prize money payout.
In fact, with the cutline at Muirfield Village set at the top 50 and ties or any player within 10 shots of the 36-hole leader, no player who plays all four rounds will walk away with less money than Maltbie earned five decades ago. And every player finishing 24th or better will make more than the entire purse that was offered back in Year 1.
Entering this year’s tournament, two-time defending champion Scottie Scheffler is trying to join Tiger Woods and the only golfer to win the Memorial in three consecutive years. Woods won it five times (1999-2001, 2009, 2012) during his career, but did it in an era where the prize money wasn’t as inflated as it is today. Woods’ career earnings in 18 Memorial starts come in at $5.4 million, which is paltry compared to the $10.09 million that Scheffler has made in his five career starts (it helps when your two wins earned you $8 million).
Here’s the prize money payout for each golfer this week in Ohio. We’ll update this listing when play is over on Sunday to include names and individual payouts.
When Roger Maltbie won the inaugural edition of the Memorial Tournament in 1976, beating Hale Irwin with a birdie on the fourth extra hole, he earned $40,000 from an overall prize money payout of $200,000.
Suffice it to say, times have changed.
With the 50th anniversary of the tournament that Jack Nicklaus’ built going on this week, the now PGA Tour signature event has a $20 million purse with the winner claiming a $4 million prize money payout.
In fact, with the cutline at Muirfield Village set at the top 50 and ties or any player within 10 shots of the 36-hole leader, no player who plays all four rounds will walk away with less money than Maltbie earned five decades ago. And every player finishing 24th or better will make more than the entire purse that was offered back in Year 1.
Entering this year’s tournament, two-time defending champion Scottie Scheffler is trying to join Tiger Woods and the only golfer to win the Memorial in three consecutive years. Woods won it five times (1999-2001, 2009, 2012) during his career, but did it in an era where the prize money wasn’t as inflated as it is today. Woods’ career earnings in 18 Memorial starts come in at $5.4 million, which is paltry compared to the $10.09 million that Scheffler has made in his five career starts (it helps when your two wins earned you $8 million).
Here’s the prize money payout for each golfer this week in Ohio. We’ll update this listing when play is over on Sunday to include names and individual payouts.