Bryson DeChambeau has made over $11 million playing LIV Golf this season, with two wins and a third-place finish. That’s more than most golfers earn in a great year. But at Aronimink Golf Club this week, he finished Friday seven over par, ending his weekend early. Still, he had a check waiting for him.

The payout for missing the cut is $4,300. The PGA of America has announced that the 2026 PGA Championship purse will be $20.5 million, an increase from last year’s $19 million at Quail Hollow. The winner this weekend will receive $3.69 million.

All players who missed the cut, including DeChambeau, receive a stipend under the current structure. Compared to his earnings on the Saudi-backed LIV circuit, the $4,300 is negligible. A single LIV win pays $4 million, almost a thousand times more than the PGA’s missed-cut payout.

DeChambeau finished seven over par after 36 holes at Aronimink, missing the cut for the second major in a row after also exiting early at Augusta. The last time he missed consecutive major cuts was in 2017. Since then, he has won the U.S. Open twice and finished runner-up at the 2023 PGA Championship. Two missed cuts in succession are a notable change. He has mentioned shoulder and wrist issues, but the drop in performance at majors points to a larger issue than just injury.

Career LIV prize money for DeChambeau now sits near $59.5 million, roughly double what he accumulated across nine wins and multiple seasons on the PGA Tour. The $4,300 stipend from Aronimink will not register in any meaningful financial sense. What it registers as, instead, is a data point in golf’s ongoing argument about money, merit, and what competitive consequences are supposed to feel like.

The increase in the Aronimink purse is part of a broader trend in professional golf, driven by factors beyond a single tournament.

When the PGA Championship joined golf’s money race

The PGA Championship purse has increased from $15 million in 2022 to $20.5 million in 2026, adding $5.5 million over four years. This growth is closely linked to LIV Golf’s arrival during the same period. The Masters now has the largest purse among the majors at $22.5 million. The Open and the U.S. Open have not yet announced their 2026 purses, but their latest figures are $17 million and $21.5 million. According to PGA of America CEO Terry Clark, the championship’s purse is not always set by comparing it to other majors. Instead, it is reviewed each year to decide what competitive payouts should be.

For years, the majors set the highest prize money in golf, but now some events offer even more. The Players Championship will have a $25 million purse in 2026, according to its prize money breakdown, and each of the PGA Tour’s eight signature events will offer $20 million.

The missed-cut stipend follows the same thinking. Paying every competitor is not about charity; it shows that top-level golf is moving toward a guaranteed minimum payout, a model LIV introduced and the majors are now starting to use. It is still unclear if this change affects how hard players compete, and the sport has not answered that question yet. Bryson DeChambeau’s $4,300 from Aronimink does not settle the debate, but its existence highlights how much professional golf has changed.