After a number of close calls in recent years, Jason Day was finally able to break through and claim the first major championship of his career. He celebrated by hoisting the Wanamaker Trophy, and with it will come the biggest payout of his career. By winning the 2015 PGA Championship, Day took home the $1.8 million first-place purse prize.
Day finished the tournament at a record-breaking 20-under, three shots clear of US Masters and US Open champion Jordan Spieth. He is the first player to finish a major championships at 20-under breaking the previous record set by Tiger Woods at the 2000 British Open by one shot. Shortly after winning Day tweeted his relief at losing the tag of best player not to win a major championships. ‘Ding dong the witch is dead,’ he tweeted to his followers.
Although he was yet to win a major championship, Day had won some significant tournaments in his career. Even still, the PGA Championship payout is the largest of his career, topping the $1.53 million he won when he took home the WGC-Accenture Match Play in 2014. His $1.8 million payday at the PGA Championship is significantly more and is tied with the U.S. Open, British Open, Masters and Players Championship for the biggest reward in golf.
Day is an accomplished player with more then $20 million in on-course earnings on the PGA Tour. The payday, however, is still a significant one. It’s more than he made in four of his nine seasons playing on the PGA Tour, and it also gives him by far his most lucrative season on Tour. With now three wins on the season, Day has earned more than $6 million on the course in 2015. The latest payday moved him to No. 2 on the PGA Tour money list, trailing only Jordan Spieth.
Spieth challenged Day, but had to settle for a second-place finish. That caps off an outstanding year in the majors where he won the Masters and U.S. Open, tied for fourth at the British Open and finished second at the PGA Championship. It’s not a win, but finishing second does come with a nice consolation prize, and Spieth earned $1.08 million for his effort. That’s actually his third-largest payout of the season and more than he earned by winning the John Deere Classic ($846,000), Valspar Championship ($1.06 million) and the Hero World Challenge ($1 million). Spieth has now earned more than $10.3 million this season, and by doing so became the first player to top $10 million in earnings in one season since Tiger Woods did in 2009. Woods currently owns the record for earnings in one season between the PGA and European tours at $11.5 million. Spieth has a good chance to top that with events to play.
With a $10 million purse, the PGA Championship was a lucrative event for several of the top finishers. The purse was designed for 21 players to take home at least $100,000, and without ties the top 10 would all win $250,000 or more. Ties ultimately factored in considerably, but 20 players won six figures.
