OAKMONT, Pa. — It says something about the cockeyed state of prize money payouts in men’s professional golf that players might be disappointed to hear that for the first time in five years the USGA isn’t increasing the payday at the U.S. Open. Hopefully that feeling evaporates fairly quickly as they absorb the fact that the purse remains at $21.5 million, the most given out at any major championship, with the winner still earning $4.3 million.
Let’s put things in context: This week’s purse is still nearly double what was given out just four years ago at Torrey Pines ($12.5 million), a month before Mike Whan became the USGA CEO.
“We want to be relevant,” Whan said regarding prize money. “We understand the competitive set. We know that this probably isn’t really about the money for the person who [wins on Sunday], but at the same time, we want the money to be commensurate with the achievement.”
Only the Players Championship, with a purse of $25 million, has a bigger overall payday than the U.S. Open. And as for the majors, the U.S. Open hands out slightly more than the Masters, which increased its purse to $21 million in April. The PGA Championship bumped its purse to $19 million for Quail Hollow last month. The Open Championship paid out $17 million at Royal Troon in 2024.
More context: Let’s consider how much the USGA has paid U.S. Open winners over time. As you can see, the reward has become exponentially greater in recent years.
1950: Ben Hogan at Merion, $4,000 1960: Arnold Palmer at Cherry Hills, $14,400 1973: Johnny Miller at Oakmont, $35,000 1980: Jack Nicklaus at Baltusrol, $55,000 1982: Tom Watson at Pebble Beach, $60,000 1992: Tom Kite at Pebble Beach, $275,000 2000: Tiger Woods at Pebble Beach, $800,000 2008: Tiger Woods at Torrey Pines, $1.35 million 2011: Rory McIlroy at Congressional, $1.44 million 2015: Jordan Spieth at Chambers Bay, $1.8 million 2017: Brooks Koepka at Erin Hills, $2.16 million 2021: Jon Rahm at Torrey Pines, $2.25 million 2022: Matt Fitzpatrick at The Country Club, $3.15 million 2023: Wyndham Clark at LACC, $3.6 million 2024: Bryson DeChambeau at Pinehurst, $4.3 million
The top 60 and ties make the 36-hole cut at the U.S. Women’s Open. For those that don’t advance past to the weekend. And for any professionals who don’t make the cut at the U.S. Open, you’re still walking away with a nice return: $10,000.
The full prize money payout breakdown for this year’s championship won’t be released until the cut is made, adjustments made depending on how many amateurs also make the cut. What’s listed below is last year’s payouts. We’ll update this list when this year’s is announced and then update things again after the finish of the championship on Sunday and we’ll update with individual names and official totals.
Win: Bryson DeChambeau, -6/274, $4,300,000
2: Rory McIlroy, -5/275, $2,322,000
T-3: Tony Finau, -4/276, $1,229,051
T-3: Patrick Cantlay, -4/276, $1,229,051
5: Matthieu Pavon, -3/277, $843,765
6: Hideki Matsuyama, -2/278, $748,154
T-7: Russell Henley, -1/279, $639,289
T-7: Xander Schauffele, -1/279, $639,289
T-9: Sam Burns, E/280, $502,391
T-9: Davis Thompson, E/280, $502,391
T-9: Corey Conners, E/280, $502,391
T-12: Sergio Garcia, +1/281, $409,279
T-12: Ludvig Aberg, +1/281, $409,279
T-14: Thomas Detry, +2/282, $351,370
T-14: Collin Morikawa, +2/282, $351,370
T-16: Tommy Fleetwood, +3/283, $299,218
T-16: Akshay Bhatia, +3/283, $299,218
T-16: Taylor Pendrith, +3/283, $299,218
T-19: Shane Lowry, +4/284, $255,759
T-19: Aaron Rai, +4/284, $255,759
T-21: Max Greyserman, +5/285, $203,607
T-21: Daniel Berger, +5/285, $203,607
T-21: Min Woo Lee, +5/285, $203,607
T-21: Stephan Jaeger, +5/285, $203,607
T-21: Brian Harman, +5/285, $203,607
T-26: Brooks Koepka, +6/286, $153,281
T-26: Zac Blair, +6/286, $153,281
T-26: Chris Kirk, +6/286, $153,281
T-26: Neal Shipley, +6/286, $0 (amateur)
T-26: Tom Kim, +6/286, $153,281
T-26: Tyrrell Hatton, +6/286, $153,281
T-32: Adam Scott, +7/287, $110,894
T-32: Si Woo Kim, +7/287, $110,894
T-32: Sahith Theegala, +7/287, $110,894
T-32: Keegan Bradley, +7/287, $110,894
T-32: Isaiah Salinda, +7/287, $110,894
T-32: Chrisitaan Bezuidenhout, +7/287, $110,894
T-32: Cameron Smith, +7/287, $110,894
T-32: J.T. Poston, +7/287, $110,894
T-32: Denny McCarthy, +7/287, $110,894
T-41: Frankie Capan III, +8/288, $72,305
T-41: Harris English, +8/288, $72,305
T-41: Jordan Spieth, +8/288, $72,305
T-41: Scottie Scheffler, +8/288, $72,305
T-41: Tom McKibbin, +8/288, $72,305
T-41: Tim Widing, +8/288, $72,305
T-41: Emiliano Grillo, +8/288, $72,305
T-41: Billy Horschel, +8/288, $72,305
T-41: Luke Clanton, +8/288, $0 (amateur)
T-50: Justin Lower, +9/289, $51,065
T-50: Matt Kuchar, +9/289, $51,065
T-50: Nicolai Hojgaard, +9/289, $51,065
T-50: Mark Hubbard, +9/289, $51,065
54: Nico Echavarria, +10/290, $47,370
55: David Puig, +11/291, $46,501
T-56: Seonghyeon Kim, +12/292, $44,546
T-56: Ben Kohles, +12/292, $44,546
T-56: Ryan Fox, +12/292, $44,546
T-56: Sepp Straka, +12/292, $44,546
T-56: Greyson Sigg, +12/292, $44,546
T-56: Brian Campbell, +12/292, $44,546
T-56: Adam Svensson, +12/292, $44,546
T-56: Wyndham Clark, +12/292, $44,546
T-64: Matthew Fitzpatrick, +13/293, $42,155
T-64: Francisco Molinari, +13/293, $42,155
T-64: Martin Kaymer, +13/293, $42,155
T-67: Cameron Young, +14/294, $41,069
T-67: Brendon Todd, +14/294, $41,069
69: Dean Burmester, +15/295, $40,417
T-70: Gunnar Broin, +16/296, $0 (amateur)
T-70: Brandon Wu, +16/296, $39,982
72: Sam Bennett, +17/297, $39,548
73: Jackson Suber, +18/298, $39,113
74: Austin Eckroat, +20/300, $38,670
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This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
