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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 didn’t increase the payday at the U.S. Open. Hopefully that feeling evaporatedffairly quickly as they absorbed the fact that the purse remained at $21.5 million, the most given out at any major championship, with the winner, journeyman pro J.J. Spaun, 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.
“I feel comfortable that we’ve been a leader in moving fast and bigger,” Whan said earlier in the week regarding prize money. “We want to be relevant. 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. Open. For those that don’t advance past to the weekend. And for any professionals who don’t make the cut, you’re still walking away with a nice return: $10,000.
The full prize money payout breakdown for this year’s championship was released after the cut was made Saturday. Come back shortly after the end of the championship when we will update this list with individual names and official prize money payouts.
Win: J.J. Spaun, -1/279, $4,300,000
2: Robert MacIntyre, +1/281, $2,322,000
3: Viktor Hovland, +2/282, $1,459,284
T-4: Cameron Young, 3/283, $876,869
T-4: Tyrrell Hatton, +3/283, $876,869
T-4: Carlos Ortiz, +3/283, $876,869
T-7: Scottie Scheffler, +4/284, $614,422
T-7: Jon Rahm, +4/284, $614,422
T-7: Sam Burns, +4/284, $614,422
T-10: Russell Henley, +5/285, $484,955
T-10: Ben Griffin, +5/285, $484,955
T-12: Adam Scott, +6/286, $348,966
T-12: Xander Schauffele, +6/286, $348,966
T-12: Brooks Koepka, +6/286, $348,966
T-12: Chris Kirk, +6/286, $348,966
T-12: Christian Bezuidenhout, +6/286, $348,966
T-12: Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, +6/286, $348,966
T-12: Thriston Lawrence, +6/286, $348,966
T-19: Rory McIlroy, +7/287, $242,532
T-19: Ryan Fox, +7/287, $242,532
T-19: Victor Perez, +7/287, $242,532
T-19: Emiliano Grillo, +7/287, $242,532
T-23: Collin Morikawa, +8/288, $161,132
T-23: Patrick Reed, +8/288, $161,132
T-23: Jordan Spieth, +8/288, $161,132
T-23: Thomas Detry, +8/288, $161,132
T-23: Jason Day, +8/288, $161,132
T-23: Sam Stevens, +8/288, $161,132
T-23: Matt Wallace, +8/288, $161,132
T-23: Max Greyserman, +8/288, $161,132
T-23: Nick Taylor, +8/288, $161,132
T-23: Chris Gotterup, +8/288, $161,132
T-33: Tom Kim, +9/289, $113,503
T-33: Aaron Rai, +9/289, $113,503
T-33: J.T. Poston, +9/289, $113,503
T-33: Keegan Bradley, +9/289, $113,503
37: Maverick McNealy, +10/290, $101,379
T-38: Taylor Pendrith, +11/291, $90,407
T-38: Tony Finau, +11/291, $90,407
T-38: Matt Fitzpatrick, +11/291, $90,407
T-38: Marc Leishman, +11/291, $90,407
T-42: Hideki Matsuyama, +12/292, $72,852
T-42: Andrew Novak, +12/292, $72,852
T-42: Si Woo Kim, +12/292, $72,852
T-42: Trevor Cone, +12/292, $72,852
T-46: Nicklas Norgaard, +13/293, $56,944
T-46: Daniel Berger, +13/293, $56,944
T-46: Rasmus Hojgaard, +13/293, $56,944
T-46: Jhonattan Vegas, +13/293, $56,944
T-50: Ryan McCormmick, +14/294, $48,100
T-50: Michael Kim, +14/294, $48,100
T-50: Adam Schenk, +14/294, $48,100
T-50: Mackenzie Hughes, +14/294, $48,100
T-50: Ryan Gerard, +14/294, $48,100
T-55: Laurie Canter, +15/295, $46,081
T-55: Justin Hastings, +15/295, Amateur
T-57: Sungjae Im, +16/296, $45,422.50
T-57: Denny McCarthy, +16/296, $45,422.50
T-59: Harris English, +18/298, $44,545.50
T-59: Brian Harman, +18/298, $44,545.50
T-61: Jordan Smith, +19/299, $43,448
T-61: Johnny Keefer, +19/299, $43,448
T-61: James Nicholas, +19/299, $43,448
T-64: Cam Davis, +22/302, $42,350.50
T-64: Matthieu Pavon, +22/302, $42,350.50
66: Philip Barbaree, Jr., +24/304, $41,692
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