In case you haven’t heard—although judging by social-media chatter on Saturday you had—it’s been a while since one of the game’s bright young talents, Jordan Spieth, has won on the PGA Tour. Which is why there’s so much excitement about what might happen on Sunday at the Waste Management Phoenix Open.
Spieth, a three-time major champion and 11-time tour winner, enters the final round at TPC Scottsdale tied for the lead with Xander Schauffele after shooting a third-round 61, matching his career best 18-hole score. A victory would be the first, however, for the 27-year-old since he won the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale in 2017.
Indeed, Spieth has played 77 tour events since that last win. In the 77 starts prior to that British Open victory, Spieth had earned nine tour titles, illustrating just how impressive his play had been before, suddenly, he began to struggle with his game, falling to 92nd in the World Ranking starting this week.
That contrast also can be seen in his on-course earnings after the 2017 Open victory compared to before. In his last 77 starts, Spieth had made $8,796,873 in prize money. It’s a handsome amount despite walking away with no victories and just two runner-up finishes but it’s paltry compared to his earnings in the 77 starts before, which totaled $24,238,605.
Spieth isn’t the only one trying to end a victory drought. Schauffele, 27, despite being ranked fourth in the world, has been unable to claim a tour title since winning the 2019 Sentry Tournament of Champions. That was 41 starts ago, and during that time Schauffele has managed to have seven runner-up finishes, 15 top-10s and make $8.9 million in earnings.
The winner this week will claim a $1.314 million prize money payout from the overall purse of $7.3 million. Here’s the prize money payouts for each golfer who made the cut this week at TPC Scottsdale. Come back shortly after the tournament ends and we’ll update the list with individual names and payouts for each player.