If you’re looking for signs of the beefed up rewards that come in the PGA Tour’s 2022 postseason, the FedEx St. Jude Championship is a good place to start. The tournament replaced The Northern Trust as the first event of the FedEx Cup Playoffs and with it comes not just a new name and venue (TPC Southwind), but a significantly larger prize money payout.
Last year’s Northern Trust had an overall purse of $9.7 million with Tony Finau grabbing a $1.71 million payday for his win. This year’s total prize money payout is $15 million with the winner earning $2.7 million and the runner-up in line for $1.635 million.
J.J. Spaun holds a one-shot lead at 13 under over Sepp Straka, and a two-shot edge over the trio of Will Zalatoris, Trey Mullinax and Cameron Smith. Beyond the money, all give have their own motivations for victory.
Spaun: Trying to become ninth winner of multiple events on tour in the 2021-22 season.
Straka: Trying to advance to BMW Championship for the first time in four FedEx Cup Playoff appearances.
Zalatoris: Trying to join Camilo Villegas as just the second player to ever win first PGA Tour title in the FEC Playoffs.
Mullinax: Trying to become ninth winner of multiple events on tour and advance for first time to BMW Championship in his second FEC appearance.
Smith: Trying to become World No. 1 with a victory.
Here’s the prize money payout for each golfer who made the cut this week. Check back after the finish and we’ll update the list with individual golfers and how much each earned.