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While the PGA Tour’s biggest stars are competing for the $20 million purse at the Travelers Championship, a different kind of pressure is building at Panther Creek Country Club in Illinois. The 2026 Memorial Health Championship presented by LRS is back in Springfield for its 11th year, and it holds a special place on the Korn Ferry Tour schedule.

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This is the 15th tournament of a 25-event regular season. For the players grinding through this week, what’s on the line isn’t just a paycheck; their performance could shape their season and determine if they earn a PGA Tour card next year. That point race carries its own weight, with the winner earning 500 Korn Ferry Tour points, which are added to their season total, and every point is crucial for getting the pivotal PGA Tour card, for only the top 20 automatically qualify for the PGA Tour card that are handed out when the season wraps.

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The purse remains at $1,000,000, the same as in recent years. The winner will receive $180,000, which is the standard 18 percent share used by the Korn Ferry Tour for its regular-season events.  Here’s what the full payout looks like, as per Golf News Net:

1$180,000
2$90,000
3$60,000
4$45,000
5$38,000
6$34,500
7$32,000
8$29,500
9$27,500
10$25,500
11$23,650
12$22,000
13$20,500
14$19,000
15$18,000
16$17,000
17$16,000
18$15,000
19$14,000
20$13,000
21$12,150
22$11,350
23$10,550
24$9,750
25$9,000
26$8,530
27$8,100
28$7,700
29$7,400
30$7,100
31$6,850
32$6,650
33$6,450
34$6,250
35$6,050
36$5,850
37$5,650
38$5,450
39$5,250
40$5,150
41$5,050
42$4,950
43$4,850
44$4,750
45$4,650
46$4,550
47$4,500
48$4,450
49$4,400
50$4,350
51$4,300
52$4,260
53$4,240
54$4,220
55$4,200
56$4,180
57$4,160
58$4,140
59$4,120
60$4,100
61$4,080
62$4,060
63$4,040
64$4,020
65$4,000

The tournament began in 2016 as the Lincoln Land Charity Championship. In 2018, it was renamed the Lincoln Land Championship, and by 2021, it became the Memorial Health Championship.

Panther Creek Country Club was designed by Hale Irwin and opened in 1992. The course has seen five players shoot a tournament-record 60, which was set by Taylor Moore in 2021. Since then, Rob Oppenheim, Jackson Suber, and Sandy Scott have matched it. This year, Drew Nesbitt joined them with a 60 in the opening round.

With this background, attention now turns to where fans can watch the event this year.

Memorial Health Championship: Where to Watch the 2026 Tournament

Fans looking to follow along have a few solid options. For the final rounds on Saturday and Sunday, play shifts to a single wave, with tee times from around 6:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. You can follow every shot in real time on pgatour.com using the PGA Tour’s TOURCAST platform, so you don’t have to stick to just one broadcast.

ESPN+ is also part of the PGA Tour’s streaming options, along with the usual digital coverage for every Korn Ferry Tour event. If you’re heading to Panther Creek, general admission is free, and a shuttle runs from off-site parking starting at 6 a.m. each day.

The event runs concurrently with the PGA Tour’s Travelers Championship during this final week of June, giving golf fans a packed split-screen weekend if they’re tracking both tours.

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Abhijit Raj

1,423 Articles

Abhijit Raj is a seasoned Golf writer at EssentiallySports known for blending traditional reporting with a modern, digital-first approach to engage today’s audience. A published fiction author and creative technologist, Abhijit brings over 17 years of analytical thinking and storytelling expertise to his work, crafting compelling narratives that resonate across cultures and technologies. He contributes regularly to the flagship Essentially Golf newsletter, offering weekly insights into the evolving landscape of professional golf. In addition to his sports journalism, Abhijit is a multidisciplinary creative with achievements in music composition, visual storytelling, and poetry. His work spans multiple languages and reflects a deep interest in the intersection of technology, culture, and human experience. Abhijit’s unique voice and editorial precision make him a distinctive presence in golf media, where he continues to sharpen his craft through the EssentiallySports Journalistic Excellence Program.

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Riya Singhal

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