PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Players trying to reach the PGA Tour soon will be competing for more money to help them along the way.
The Korn Ferry Tour, the circuit right below the PGA Tour, informed players on Tuesday that prize money will be a minimum of $1 million for tournaments starting in 2023. Minimum purses now are at $600,000, with $108,000 going to the winner. First place would be worth at least $180,000 starting in 2023.
“The Korn Ferry Tour continues to play a massive role in delivering a pipeline of future stars to the PGA Tour on a consistent basis,” said Alex Baldwin, president of the Korn Ferry Tour.
She said the prize increase would ensure that the tour continues to attract the best talent “while providing higher-quality playing opportunities.”
The tour said the purse increases were approved by the PGA Tour board in March 2020 and were supposed to start this year. The start was delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to two seasons (2020 and 2021) counting as one, and because of expenses related to testing and a safety plan.
Minimum purses will increase next year to $750,000 and then to $1 million in 2023.
The final regular-season event will go from $750,000 to $850,000 next year and then to $1.25 million in 2023, while the three Korn Ferry Tour Finals events that decide PGA Tour cards will go from $1 million this year to $1.5 million in 2023.
The top 25 on the points list during the regular season earn cards, and the three events after the regular season offer 25 cards to a mixture of Korn Ferry Tour and PGA Tour players.