Winner's check at Masters now worth more than $2 million

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This year’s Masters winner will earn more than $2 million in prize money.

The total purse increased to $11.5 million, and the champion will get $2,070,000, according to a news bulletin issued by Augusta National.

It’s the first time a Masters champion will make that much money. Patrick Reed won $1,980,000 last year.

The prize money is a far cry from the early days of the tournament, when Horton Smith collected $1,500 for winning the first Augusta National Invitation Tournament.

First-place money at the Masters increased to $2,500 after World War II, and more than quadrupled to $11,250 when Arnold Palmer won for the first time in 1958.

Ben Crenshaw was the first to earn more than $100,000, cashing a check for $108,000 in 1984. Nearly two decades later, Tiger Woods became the first million-dollar winner at the Masters. His 2001 victory was worth $1,008,000.

By comparison, three-time Masters champion Gary Player collected $413,162 in his 52 appearances between 1957 and 2009.

“I won it three times, second three times, top-10 15 times, most number of cuts, most number of times played, and I didn’t win (that much),” Player said Saturday.

“That’s all right,” he said. “We didn’t play for the money. Arnie, Jack (Nicklaus) and I wanted to be the best. We didn’t think of the money.”

Prize money for the rest of the places in the field also increased, with 50th place earning $28,980. The remainder of the professionals in the field will receive money ranging downward from $28,290 depending on scores.

Last year, professionals in the field who missed the cut each received $10,000.

2019 Masters Tournament purse and prize money breakdown by position:

Total: $11,500,000

1st: $2,070,000

2nd: $1,242,000

3rd: $782,000

4th: $552,000

5th: $460,000

6th: $414,000

7th: $385,250

8th: $356,500

9th: $333,500