The Champion Golfer of the Year is going to get richer.
Much, much richer.
The R&A announced Friday the winner of next week’s 150th playing of the Open Championship, to be conducted on the Old Course in St. Andrews, will take home the largest first-place check in tournament history along with the Claret Jug.
The payday? $2.5 million.
The total purse will be $14 million, a 22 percent increase on 2021 and a 60 percent increase on 2016.
“There have been significant changes in prize money over the last year. We have made this substantial investment while balancing our wider commitments to developing golf at all levels around the world and to continuing to elevate the AIG Women’s Open,” said Martin Slumbers, chief executive of the R&A.
The bump in the purse – whether influenced by LIV Golf, the Saudi Arabia-backed league doling out huge purses – continues a trend in some of the game’s biggest tournaments.
Matthew Fitzpatrick won a record $3.15 million for winning the U.S. Open at The Country Club. The purse was $17.5 million, up $5 million from the year before.
Justin Thomas earned a record $2.7 million with his playoff victory against Will Zalatoris in the PGA Championship at Southern Hills. The total purse was $15 million, up $3 million from 2021.
The Masters bumped its purse by $3.5 million to $15 million. And Cameron Smith won a record $3.6 million of the record $20 million purse in The Players Championship at the Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass.
Prize money
| Place | USD | Place | USD |
| 1 | $2,500,000 | 36 | $73,500 |
| 2 | $1,455,000 | 37 | $70,000 |
| 3 | $933,000 | 38 | $66,500 |
| 4 | $725,000 | 39 | $64,000 |
| 5 | $583,000 | 40 | $62,000 |
| 6 | $505,000 | 41 | $59,500 |
| 7 | $434,000 | 42 | $56,500 |
| 8 | $366,000 | 43 | $54,000 |
| 9 | $321,000 | 44 | $51,000 |
| 10 | $290,000 | 45 | $48,000 |
| 11 | $264,000 | 46 | $45,500 |
| 12 | $234,000 | 47 | $43,700 |
| 13 | $220,000 | 48 | $42,000 |
| 14 | $206,000 | 49 | $40,000 |
| 15 | $191,500 | 50 | $39,100 |
| 16 | $176,000 | 51 | $38,200 |
| 17 | $167,500 | 52 | $37,600 |
| 18 | $159,750 | 53 | $37,000 |
| 19 | $153,000 | 54 | $36,500 |
| 20 | $145,750 | 55 | $35,900 |
| 21 | $139,000 | 56 | $35,400 |
| 22 | $132,000 | 57 | $35,000 |
| 23 | $125,000 | 58 | $34,750 |
| 24 | $118,000 | 59 | $34,500 |
| 25 | $114,000 | 60 | $34,250 |
| 26 | $109,000 | 61 | $34,000 |
| 27 | $105,000 | 62 | $33,900 |
| 28 | $101,500 | 63 | $33,750 |
| 29 | $97,000 | 64 | $33,600 |
| 30 | $92,000 | 65 | $33,400 |
| 31 | $89,000 | 66 | $33,100 |
| 32 | $84,500 | 67 | $32,900 |
| 33 | $81,500 | 68 | $32,600 |
| 34 | $79,250 | 69 | $32,400 |
| 35 | $76,500 | 70 | $32,200
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