Last week's Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill offered an eye-catching purse of $20m, but for the PGA Tour's flagship event, The Players Championship, there was an even greater sum on offer, $25m.
An engrossing Sunday, which had a sizeable delay due to electrical storms, finished with Rory McIlroy and J.J. Spaun needing to return to TPC Sawgrass on Monday for a three-hole aggregate playoff to settle the title.
Returning at 9am local time (ET), McIlroy managed to get the upper hand at the par 5 16th, as he birdied and Spaun parred. What's more, after McIlroy found the short grass safely at the island green 17th, Spaun then airmailed the green into the water.
Although McIlroy three-putted for bogey, Spaun triple bogeyed and trailed by three going down the 18th. Playing into the cold wind, both bogeyed the last as McIlroy claimed a second Players Championship and a 28th PGA Tour title.
McIlroy will receive 18% of the purse to give him a windfall of $4.5m - the same amount Scottie Scheffler won in each of the previous two editions for his back-to-back victories.
The figure is also $500,000 more than the winner of a single LIV Golf event earns, even though the 54-hole league offers the same total prize purse.
While McIlroy claimed one of the biggest payouts in the game, Spaun will have the considerable consolation of $2.75m in prize money.
Below is the full list of prize money payouts for those who made the cut at The Players Championship.
