Why Aaron Rai will lose almost $2 million after winning 2026 PGA Championship
· Yahoo Sports
Why Aaron Rai will lose almost $2 million after winning 2026 PGA Championship originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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Aaron Rai is officially the 2026 PGA Champion.
Rai won his first PGA Championship, which was also his first win at a major. He had an impressive 5-under final round on Sunday (May 17), which featured six birdies and an eagle. The crowd roared in celebration of his birdie on hole 17, which gave him an edge to secure the win.
After beating out other outstanding golf pros such as Jon Rahm, Alex Smalley, Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele, and more, he has now been crowned the champion. He also made history as the first English-born golfer to win the PGA Championship since Jim Barnes took home the win in the first two tournaments in 1916 and 1919. He's also the first non-American to win the PGA Championship since Jason Day in 2015.
How much did Aaron Rai win and lose?
Rai is going to take home a record-breaking $3.69 million winner's check. Last year, Scottie Scheffler took home $3.42 million when the PGA had a $19 million purse.
Rahm and Smalley will take home $1.804 million after their tied second-place finish with Justin Thomas, and Ludvig Åberg, Matti Schmid will have a $843,867 check for their fourth place wins, according to Yahoo Sports. The first 82 are awarded, and those who missed the cut received $4,300 each.
This year, the PGA Championship had $20.5 million to deposit between the winners, which is the highest in the tournament's history, according to Golf Channel.
However, when it comes to taxes on Rai's $3.69 million check, he'll be taking off a pretty penny. Rai will take home roughly $1.85 million to $2.2 million from his $3.69 million winner's check after federal taxes, team expenses, Pennsylvania state income tax, caddie fees, and agent commissions. It's not uncommon for golfers to receive 50-60% of their earnings from major championships, like when McIlroy won the Masters for the second time, he lost approximately $2 million in taxes.
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