US PGA Championship 2015 prize money: How much can Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth win at Whistling Straits?
The winner's of this year's US PGA Championship is in line for a $1.8m (£1.2m) pay day – the largest prize in golf this year.
Read more: McIlroy knows he's ready for showdown with rival Jordan Spieth
World number one Rory McIlroy is back for business and ready to defend his title, after missing out on the chance to do so at the Open last month.
However unlike the Open, which raised its prize money to £1.15m this year, the US PGA Championship will not offer McIlroy the chance to compete for a bigger pay cheque after keeping its prize money pool flat at $10m.
In 2014 it increased its overall purse from $8m to $10m, boosting the winner's take by $360,000 to $1.8m.
The four majors of golf's season – the US PGA Championship, the Open, the Masters and the US Open – as well as the famously lucrative Players' Championship – now all have purses of between $9.8m and $10m.
Despite remaining stagnant this year, the winner's prize at the US PGA Championship has increased by a healthy 58.4 per cent in the last decade, reflecting similarly rapid rises in other majors.
If McIlroy can stave off the advances of Jordan Spieth and triumph on his return at Whistling Straits in Wisconsin, it would equal the biggest prize money take of his career.
Spieth has taken home the top prize from the US Open and Masters already this year and currently sits top of the US PGA Tour prize money leaderboard with $9.3m earned. McIlroy, currently on $4.1m for the year, is a way off reaching the $8.3m earned in 2014 – his most profitable year to date.
If players finish level at the tournament, they both receive the same prize normally allocated to the position. Here's a breakdown of what a golfer can win from each position this weekend:
Position | Prize money |
1st | $1.8m |
2nd | $865,000 |
3rd | $545,000 |
4th | $385,000 |
5th | $320,000 |
6th | $288,000 |
7th | $259,000 |
8th | $235,000 |
9th | $214,000 |
10th | $196,000 |
11th | $180,000 |
12th | $165,500 |
13th | $152,000 |
14th | $140,000 |
15th | $130,000 |
16th | $121,000 |
17th | $113,500 |
18th | $106,500 |
19th | $99,500 |
20th | $93,000 |