Erik van Rooyen of South Africa has good reason to smile after a tied-13 finish at the Players. Picture: Jared C Tilton/Getty Images
It pays to play well at the Players.
Just ask winner Cameron Smith from Australia, who bagged the PGA Tour’s flagship title on Monday after the tournament was hit by bad weather and couldn’t be completed on Sunday.
Also, just ask the four South Africans who made the halfway cut and pocketed a small fortune themselves.
The Players Championship – played at TPC Sawgrass in Florida and the unofficial fifth golfing Major – has always sought to be the most lucrative tournament in the sport.
This year’s edition had a total pursue of $20 million (that’s a staggering R303 million).
Not even the four Majors have so much money up for grabs. The biggest total pursue of the four is the US Open, with a total prize fund of $12.5 million, with the winner walking away with a prize of $2.25 million.
Smith, who edged out Indian player Anirbarn Lahiri and finished with a score of 13-under-par for a one stroke win on Monday, banked $3.6 million – a whopping R54 million.
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It is the 28-year-old Australian’s second title for 2022 having also won the Sentry Tournament of Champions event earlier in the year.
The four South Africans didn’t do too badly either. While Erik van Rooyen and Louis Oosthuizen threatened at stages, they both fell away to finish tied 13th and tied 42nd respectively.
Van Rooyen, with a score of six-under-par, won $327,222 (R5 million), while Oosthuizen, on a score of two-under-par, banked $73.000 (R1.1 million).
Dylan Frittelli, who finished tied 50th on level par, won $50,200 (R760,000), while Branden Grace, who finished the tournament at one-over-par and in a tie for 53rd won $47,800 (R723,000).
Some of the big-name players to miss the cut and who went home empty handed included Brooks Koepka, Jordan Spieth, Collin Morikawa and Xander Schauffele.
The two South Africans to miss the cut were Charl Schwartzel and Garrick Higgo.
It is interesting to note that the first Players Championship, in 1974 and won by Jack Nicklaus, awarded the winner $50,000 (compared to Smith’s $3.6 million).