FedEx Cup Payouts and Prize Money Breakdown
The FedEx Cup is golf’s postseason bonus system, with a $100 million pool that makes the Tour Championship the richest event in the sport. The winner takes home $25 million from the bonus pool alone—plus the tournament’s $4 million first-place check. But the money distributes far deeper than the champion. Here’s the full breakdown of who gets paid, how the format shifts the math, and what players actually keep.
The Two Money Tracks That Feed the FedEx Cup
The FedEx Cup season runs on two separate payment systems that people often confuse:
1. Official tournament prize money — Standard purses from every PGA Tour event, which count toward the season money list.
2. FedEx Cup bonus pool — A $100 million fund paid after the Tour Championship, distributed strictly by final points position.
These never mix. A player who wins three regular-season events banks those official checks immediately. The bonus pool is a separate payout that only the top 70 players in FedEx Cup points touch.
The bonus pool distribution is fixed before the season starts. Finishing position determines the check, not performance in any single playoff event.
Three Playoff Events, Three Separate Purses
Each playoff tournament carries its own official prize money on top of the bonus pool. The fields shrink after each event:
FedEx St. Jude Championship — Memphis
- Course: TPC Southwind
- Field: Top 70 in FedEx Cup points
- Official purse: $20 million
- Winner’s share: $3.6 million
- After this event: Field cuts to top 50
BMW Championship — Castle Pines, Colorado
- Course: Castle Pines Golf Club
- Field: Top 50
- Official purse: $20 million
- Winner’s share: $3.6 million
- After this event: Field cuts to top 30
Tour Championship — Atlanta
- Course: East Lake Golf Club
- Field: Top 30 only
- Official purse: $25 million
- Winner’s share: $4 million from the purse
- Bonus pool winner: Additional $25 million
The Tour Championship winner walks away with $29 million combined. That’s the single largest payday in professional golf, and it’s why the final event gets so much attention even when the leaderboard isn’t tight.
Full FedEx Cup Bonus Pool Payout Table
Here’s the complete $100 million distribution for all 70 playoff qualifiers:
| Final Position | Bonus Payout |
|---|---|
| 1st | $25,000,000 |
| 2nd | $12,500,000 |
| 3rd | $7,500,000 |
| 4th | $6,000,000 |
| 5th | $5,000,000 |
| 6th | $4,500,000 |
| 7th | $4,000,000 |
| 8th | $3,500,000 |
| 9th | $3,000,000 |
| 10th | $2,700,000 |
| 11th | $2,400,000 |
| 12th | $2,200,000 |
| 13th | $2,000,000 |
| 14th | $1,800,000 |
| 15th | $1,600,000 |
| 16th–20th | $1,300,000 each |
| 21st–25th | $1,000,000 each |
| 26th–30th | $800,000 each |
| 31st–40th | $500,000 each |
| 41st–50th | $300,000 each |
| 51st–70th | $100,000 each |
The gap between 1st and 2nd is $12.5 million—the largest single-position payout difference in professional golf. That’s not accidental. The PGA Tour designed the payout curve to make the Tour Championship a winner-take-all event in practice, even though the math technically allows for other scenarios.
How Starting Strokes Change the Money Math
The Tour Championship uses a staggered start based on FedEx Cup points after the BMW Championship. The points leader starts at 10-under par. Second place starts at 8-under. Third at 7-under, fourth at 6-under, fifth at 5-under. Everyone from 6th through 30th starts at 4-under down to even par in one-stroke increments.
This format directly determines who can realistically claim the $25 million bonus:
If you’re in the top 5: Win the tournament outright and you win the FedEx Cup. The starting strokes give you a buffer—you can shoot even par and still beat someone who shoots 65 from the 30th seed.
If you’re outside the top 5: You need the leaders to play poorly. A player starting at even par (30th seed) must make up at least 10 strokes on the points leader over four rounds. That’s not impossible—Viktor Hovland did it in 2023—but it requires the leader to shoot around par while you go low.
Concrete example: In 2023, Hovland entered East Lake as the 5th seed, starting at 5-under. He shot 63 in the final round to finish at 27-under, winning the tournament by five strokes and taking the $25 million bonus. Scottie Scheffler, the points leader who started at 10-under, finished tied for 6th at 19-under. Hovland didn’t just beat Scheffler—he outplayed him by eight strokes over four rounds.
The format also creates a specific failure mode: a player can win the Tour Championship tournament itself but still lose the FedEx Cup. If the points leader finishes 2nd and the 30th seed wins the event, the points leader still claims the bonus. The tournament win and the FedEx Cup title are separate outcomes.
What the Payouts Looked Like Before 2023
The current $100 million structure is new. Here’s how the bonus pool has grown:
| Years | Total Pool | Winner’s Share |
|---|---|---|
| 2007–2018 | $35 million | $10 million |
| 2019 | $60 million | $15 million |
| 2020–2022 | $60–75 million | $15–18 million |
| 2023–present | $100 million | $25 million |
The jump to $100 million came alongside the PGA Tour’s “designated events” push, which raised purses across the regular season. Second place went from $6.5 million to $12.5 million—a 92% increase that made the entire top 10 significantly wealthier.
What this means for players: The 2023 change effectively doubled the financial stakes of the entire playoff stretch. A player who finishes 2nd in the FedEx Cup now earns more than the winner did in any year before 2019. That’s shifted how players schedule their late-season events—there’s more incentive to peak in August than ever before.
What Players Outside the Top 30 Earn
The bonus pool pays down to 70th place, so making the playoffs guarantees at least a six-figure check:
- 31st–40th: $500,000 each
- 41st–50th: $300,000 each
- 51st–70th: $100,000 each
A player who qualifies for Memphis but misses the cut at the BMW Championship still banks $100,000–$500,000 depending on final position. For a player ranked 60th, that’s roughly equivalent to finishing 40th at a standard PGA Tour event—meaningful money, but not career-changing at that level.
The real financial cliff sits at 71st place. Players who miss the playoffs entirely get nothing from the bonus pool, regardless of how strong their regular season was. That’s why the final regular-season events draw such intense competition from players fighting for the last playoff spots.
Taxes, Fees, and What Players Actually Keep
The published payout numbers are gross amounts. Players face a stack of deductions before the money hits their bank account:
- Federal income tax: Up to 37% for top earners
- State income tax: Varies by residence—Florida, Texas, and Nevada have none; California adds up to 13.3%
- Agent fees: Typically 3–5% of earnings
- Caddie compensation: Usually 5–7% of winnings, negotiated per player
- Travel and lodging: Paid out of pocket for the player’s team
Concrete example: A $25 million bonus for a Florida resident breaks down roughly as:
- Federal tax (37%): −$9.25 million
- Agent fee (4%): −$1 million
- Caddie share (5%): −$1.25 million
- Estimated take-home: ~$13.5 million
A California resident would lose an additional ~$3.3 million to state taxes, bringing take-home closer to $10 million. That’s a $3 million swing based purely on residency—one reason so many top players officially live in Florida or Texas.
Common Misconceptions Worth Clearing Up
“The winner gets $25 million on top of the tournament purse.”
True. The Tour Championship has its own $25 million purse, with $4 million to the winner. The FedEx Cup bonus is a separate $25 million. Combined: $29 million.
“FedEx Cup points equal prize money.”
False. Points determine seeding and eligibility. Prize money is separate. A player can win a regular-season event with a $1.6 million check while a major champion takes home $3.6 million—and the points gap between those wins doesn’t match the money gap.
“The playoffs are match play.”
False. All three events are stroke play. The field cuts after each event, but there are no head-to-head brackets. The “elimination” is purely cumulative points.
“A player must win the Tour Championship to win the FedEx Cup.”
False in theory, nearly true in practice. A player starting in the top 5 can finish 2nd or 3rd and still claim the bonus if the leaders stumble. But no player outside the top 5 has ever won the FedEx Cup without also winning the Tour Championship.
How to Track the Money During the Season
Follow these steps to stay current on payout implications:
1. Check the FedEx Cup points list after every event—it updates within hours of the final putt and shows current projected bonus positions.
2. Watch the points reset after Memphis and Castle Pines. The resets compress the field and change the starting strokes math for East Lake.
3. Note the Tour Championship starting strokes when announced the Tuesday before the event. They directly reflect final points standings and tell you exactly who controls their own destiny.
The FedEx Cup rewards a full season of consistency, but the final week at East Lake is where the financial stakes concentrate. A player ranked 30th entering the Tour Championship can’t win the $25 million bonus by finishing 30th—they need to win the event outright and hope the leaders fade. That tension between season-long performance and one-week execution is exactly what makes the format—and the payout structure—so dramatic.
Michael Reeves is a PGA Professional with over 20 years of experience in competitive golf and instruction. A former Division I collegiate player at the University of Texas, he competed on the mini-tours before transitioning to full-time coaching and golf journalism. He has been a certified PGA teaching professional since 2005 and has worked with players at every level, from absolute beginners to collegiate champions.
His writing has appeared in Golf Digest, Golf Magazine, and The Left Rough. At GolfHubz, Michael leads the editorial team, overseeing fact-checking and ensuring every answer meets the same standard he demands on the lesson tee: clear, evidence-based, and immediately useful.
When he’s not writing or teaching, Michael plays to a +1.4 handicap at his home club in Austin, Texas. He has attended over 40 major championships as a journalist and fan, and has played more than 200 courses across 15 countries.
You can reach Michael at [email protected] or follow his occasional swing analysis posts on the site.