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SOUTHPORT, ENGLAND – JULY 14: Scottie Scheffler USA walks from the 1st tee during the Heros Classic at the 154th Open Championship at the Royal Birkdale Golf Club, Southport on July 14, 2026 in Merseyside, England The 154th British Open Championship
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SOUTHPORT, ENGLAND – JULY 14: Scottie Scheffler USA walks from the 1st tee during the Heros Classic at the 154th Open Championship at the Royal Birkdale Golf Club, Southport on July 14, 2026 in Merseyside, England The 154th British Open Championship
The PGA Tour first came to Memphis in 1958. Billy Maxwell won that inaugural Memphis Open at Colonial Country Club, his fourth career Tour title, for a winner’s check of just $2,800 out of a $20,000 purse. In 2026, the tournament is known as the FedEx St. Jude Championship and pays out a $20 million purse at TPC Southwind. A purse that large is part of why the strongest players still show up for a no-cut, 72-hole week where every spot on the leaderboard pays something.
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The prize purse has climbed steadily and at times dramatically since Maxwell’s win. FedEx signed on as the title sponsor in 1986, and the event’s name has changed several times in the decades since.
In 2019 it became the World Golf Championship-FedEx St. Jude Invitational. Smaller field, bigger check at $10.2 million. By 2022 the PGA Tour had made it the opener of the FedEx Cup playoffs and renamed it the FedEx St. Jude Championship, with the purse jumping to $15 million. Will Zalatoris took home $2.7 million that year for his first Tour win. Purses were rising across the board around then too. The Players Championship went from $15 million to $20 million in 2022, and the Masters purse has climbed from $11.5 million in 2021 to $22.5 million in 2026.
The purse has since climbed to $20 million this week, leveled with the BMW Championship and the Tour Championship among the three postseason events. This week’s field features the top 69 players from the FedEx Cup standings, headlined by Scottie Scheffler, Rory McIlroy, and defending champion Justin Rose.
There’s no cut, meaning every player who tees up plays all 72 holes and earns a check. The winner will bag $3.6 million, which is 18% of the total purse. The runner-up alone will bank $2.16 million, and third place will take home $1.36 million.
Here’s a detailed breakdown:
| Pos. | Amount |
| 1 | $3,600,000.00 |
| 2 | $2,160,000.00 |
| 3 | $1,360,000.00 |
| 4 | $960,000.00 |
| 5 | $800,000.00 |
| 6 | $720,000.00 |
| 7 | $670,000.00 |
| 8 | $621,000.00 |
| 9 | $581,000.00 |
| 10 | $541,000.00 |
| 11 | $501,000.00 |
| 12 | $461,000.00 |
| 13 | $421,000.00 |
| 14 | $381,000.00 |
| 15 | $361,000.00 |
| 16 | $341,000.00 |
| 17 | $321,000.00 |
| 18 | $301,000.00 |
| 19 | $281,000.00 |
| 20 | $261,000.00 |
| 21 | $241,000.00 |
| 22 | $224,500.00 |
| 23 | $208,500.00 |
| 24 | $192,500.00 |
| 25 | $176,500.00 |
| 26 | $160,500.00 |
| 27 | $154,500.00 |
| 28 | $148,500.00 |
| 29 | $142,500.00 |
| 30 | $136,500.00 |
| 31 | $130,500.00 |
| 32 | $124,500.00 |
| 33 | $118,500.00 |
| 34 | $113,500.00 |
| 35 | $108,500.00 |
| 36 | $103,500.00 |
| 37 | $98,500.00 |
| 38 | $94,500.00 |
| 39 | $90,500.00 |
| 40 | $86,500.00 |
| 41 | $82,500.00 |
| 42 | $78,500.00 |
| 43 | $74,500.00 |
| 44 | $70,500.00 |
| 45 | $66,500.00 |
| 46 | $62,500.00 |
| 47 | $58,500.00 |
| 48 | $55,300.00 |
| 49 | $52,500.00 |
| 50 | $51,000.00 |
| 51 | $49,800.00 |
| 52 | $48,600.00 |
| 53 | $47,800.00 |
| 54 | $47,000.00 |
| 55 | $46,600.00 |
| 56 | $46,200.00 |
| 57 | $45,800.00 |
| 58 | $45,400.00 |
| 59 | $45,000.00 |
| 60 | $44,600.00 |
| 61 | $44,200.00 |
| 62 | $43,800.00 |
| 63 | $43,400.00 |
| 64 | $43,000.00 |
| 65 | $42,600.00 |
| 66 | $42,200.00 |
| 67 | $41,800.00 |
| 68 | $41,400.00 |
| 69 | $41,000.00 |
Beyond the financial prospects, the winner will earn 750 FedEx Cup points and 68.6 official World Golf Ranking points, based on field strength. The winner will also be awarded a two-year exemption on the PGA Tour and an exemption into the Masters, the PGA Championship, and the Players Championship.
Golf’s Longest-Running Tradition
Interestingly, there’s more to Memphis’s roots than just a huge prize purse. Danny Thomas agreed in 1969 to lend his name to the event in exchange for it supporting St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, which he had founded; the name change to the Danny Thomas Memphis Classic and the hospital’s formal designation as beneficiary took effect the following year, in 1970, which is also why the tournament’s fundraising total is measured from 1970 onward. Restaurateur Vernon Bell co-founded the tournament and ran it as the general chairman for 22 of its first 28 years. Since that partnership with St. Jude began, the event has raised more than $86 million for the hospital’s research mission.
The tournament has worn a lot of names over the years, too. It went from the Danny Thomas Memphis Classic to the FedEx St. Jude Classic, then briefly the Stanford St. Jude Championship, before landing on its current title. Through all of it, Memphis has hosted a PGA Tour event every single year since 1958, making it one of the longest continuous stops on the schedule.
The streak is now facing its biggest challenge yet. Just last week, the PGA Tour confirmed that the FedEx St. Jude Championship will not be part of its top-tier championship series when the overhaul begins in 2028, even though the tournament will still be played in 2026 and 2027 under the current playoff format. FedEx, a Tour partner, called the decision disappointing, while Tour officials said they believe Memphis is well-positioned to remain part of the PGA Tour in the same capacity.
The purse has gone from $20,000 at Colonial Country Club to $20 million at TPC Southwind. That won’t matter for 2028. What Memphis has is seven decades of hosting the event without a break, a set date on the calendar, and a charity partnership older than any name the tournament has carried.
Written by
Edited by
Pulkit Prabhav