Last year’s Panama Championship saw Josh Teater claim $180,000 and end a 16-year title drought. Now, a year later, the championship brings 144 golfers to Club de Golf de Panama, all chasing the million-dollar purse and crucial points.

The total prize pool for the tournament is $1,000,000, and the winner will receive $180,000, which is 18% of the total, per the Korn Ferry Tour’s prize money distribution structure. The winner gets 500 important Korn Ferry Tour points in addition to the money. This is a big step toward earning one of the 20 PGA Tour cards awarded at the end of the season.

The person who comes in second gets $90,000, and the person who comes in third gets $60,000. Even players who finish far down the list get a decent check; for example, the person who comes in 65th gets $4,000.

Here’s the complete payout structure:

Moving on, the green will be loaded with talent. Ben Kohles and Robby Shelton are tied for the most Korn Ferry Tour wins, with four each. Josh Teater, the defending champion, and Carson Young, the 2022 winner, are also back. Ian Holt is on fire after winning his first Korn Ferry Tour title last week at the Bahamas Great Abaco Classic.

Blades Brown, who is 18 years old and recently became the youngest player to shoot 60 on the PGA TOUR, and Maxwell Moldovan, an Ohio State alum who is making his second Korn Ferry Tour start, are two rising stars.

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2026 Panama Championship leaderboard

As play was suspended due to darkness Thursday evening, Ian Holt and Stuart Macdonald share the first-round lead at five-under par. Ten players remain on the course and will complete their rounds Friday morning before second-round action begins.

Holt had seven birdies and two bogeys, giving him a 65. The most recent winner in the Bahamas wants to win again and keep his lead in the Korn Ferry Tour points standings. His success from last week’s big win has smoothly carried over to Panama.

Macdonald made six birdies and then a bogey on the 18th to finish with a score of 65. This is his lowest score in 15 rounds at Club de Golf de Panama. He wants to be in the lead or co-lead for the first time in 104 Korn Ferry Tour starts, which could be the start of a big week for him.

Caleb VanArragon, Mason Andersen, and Spencer Levin are all tied at four under par. VanArragon has finished in the top 20 in both of his first two events of the 2026 season. Andersen won the Visa Argentina Open earlier in 2024. The tough course conditions, with winds blowing 20 to 25 miles per hour, have made scoring difficult, underscoring how well these early leaders have performed.

Who do you think will lift the title of the 22nd edition?