Masters Winner's Prize Money "1.83 Million Won in 1934, 2.5 Billion Won in 2019"

1000-Fold Increase Over 85 Years, Woods Surpasses $2 Million Last Year After $1 Million in 2001

1934 Masters inaugural champion Horton Smith (left) and last year's winner Tiger Woods.

[Asia Economy Golf Specialist Reporter Kim Hyun-jun] '1500 dollars (1.83 million won)'.

This was the prize money for Horton Smith (USA), the inaugural Masters champion in 1934. Even when adjusted for current value, it amounts to about 29,000 dollars (3.53 million won). However, the 'Returned Golf Emperor' Tiger Woods (USA) received 2.07 million dollars (2.52 billion won) last year. Over 85 years, it has increased more than 1000 times. This year, the tournament was indefinitely postponed due to the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in the United States and will be held on November 12.

The prize money remained at 1500 dollars until 1942, then after a three-year hiatus due to World War II, it was first raised to 2500 dollars in 1946. It steadily increased to 3000 dollars in 1951, 4000 dollars the following year, 5000 dollars in 1954, 6000 dollars in 1956, 8750 dollars in 1957, 11,250 dollars in 1958, 15,000 dollars in 1959, and 17,500 dollars in 1960. From 1961 to 1969, it was 20,000 dollars, then 25,000 dollars in 1970, and finally surpassed 100,000 dollars (108,000 dollars) in 1984.

Since then, with the explosive growth of the PGA Tour, it has shown exponential growth. It reached 200,000 dollars in 1989, 306,000 dollars in 1993, 450,000 dollars in 1996, 576,000 dollars in 1998, and broke the 1 million dollar barrier (1,008,000 dollars) in 2001, doubling again 20 years later in 2019. It is interesting that Woods wore the green jacket five times: in 1997, 2001-2002 (two consecutive wins), 2005, and last year.

In 1997, he set major records as the first black champion, youngest (21 years, 3 months, 14 days), most under par, lowest 72-hole score (18 under par, 270 strokes), and largest margin of victory (12 strokes). He was the winner who surpassed 1 million dollars in 2001 and 2 million dollars last year. Woods has earned a total of 9,505,400 dollars at the Masters alone, ranking first in total prize money. Phil Mickelson (USA) is second with 8.04 million dollars. The Masters, which has no title sponsor, determines the prize money scale after the third round based on tournament revenue. The prize money for the 'November Masters' is eagerly anticipated.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.