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The USGA prides itself on making the U.S. Women’s Open the biggest championship in women’s golf. The event’s legacy helps establish that tone—this is the 80th edition—and so do the venues that host it. Part of that is also playing for the richest overall purse in the game.
“If you think about firsts, we like to kind of bring firsts,” said USGA CEO Mike Whan earlier in the week. “First to get to a $3 million purse, $5 million purse, $10 million purse, $12 million purse.”
The exponential increase is a testament to the powers that be involved in women’s golf recognising the need to better reward the game’s best players on the game’s biggest stages. The total amount of prize money being played for on the LPGA in 2025 is up to $130 million, compared to $88.9 million in 2022. And the purses in the other four women’s majors have also seen similar growth in recent years. Take a look:
KPMG Women’s PGA Championship: $10.4 million in 2024, $4.5 million in 2021
AIG Women’s Open: $9.5 million in 2024; $4.5 million in 2020
Chevron Championship: $8 million in 2025; $3.1 million in 2021
Amundi Evian Championship: $8 million in 2024; $4.5 million in 2021
As for the winner’s payday in the U.S. Women’s Open, champion Maja Stark earned $2.4 million, making her the sixth woman from Sweden to win a major. A year ago, the USGA decided to increase the winner’s payday in relation to the rest of the field, giving the champ 20 percent of the overall payout compared to 18 percent in previous years and the typical 15 percent on the LPGA Tour. (The biggest first-place prize money payout in women’s golf remains the $4 million given the winner of the CME Group Tour Championship.)
Even if you didn’t make the cut at the U.S. Women’s Open, you still walked away with a nice return: $10,000, a doubling of the “stipend” given to pros leaving after 36 holes compared to two years ago. “As I have said every year, we really believe that getting into this field is making the cut,” Whan says.
We’ve charted the growth in the U.S. Women’s Open before, but it’s worth showing again if only to remind everyone that the overall purse for the U.S. Women’s Open didn’t pass $10,000 until 1965, the 20th year of the championship. And a winner of the major didn’t make $10,000 until 1977.
Here’s a historic look at the prize money payouts in the championship for context about this year’s historic payday:
YEAR: WINNER, OVERALL PURSE, WINNER’S SHARE
1947: Betty Jameson, $7,500, $1,200
1966: Sandra Spuzich, $20,000 $4,000
1975: Sandra Palmer, $55,000, $8,044
1977: Hollis Stacy, $75,000, $11,040
1978: Hollis Stacy, $100,000, $15,000
1990: Betsy King, $500,000, $85,000
1995: Annika Sorenstam, $1 million, $175,000
2000: Karrie Webb, $2.75 million, $500,000
2014: Michelle Wie, $4 million, $720,000
2017: Sung-Hyun Park, $5 million, $900,000
2019: Jeuong Lee6, $5.5 million, $1 million
2022: Minjee Lee, $10 million, $1.8 million
2023: Allisen Corpuz, $11 million, $2 million
2024: Yuka Saso, $12 million, $2.4 million
Here is the full prize money payout breakdown for this year’s championship, where 60 players made the cut, including six amateur. (Again, those professionals who missed the cut this week will each receive $10,000.)
Win: Maja Stark, -7/281, $2.4 million
T-2: Nelly Korda, -5/283, $1,052,621
T-2: Rio Takeda, -5/283, $1,052,621
T-4: Hyejin Choi, -4/284, $486,261.67
T-4: Ruoning Yin, -4/284, $486,261.67
T-4: Mao Saigo, -4/284, $486,261.67
T-7: Hailee Cooper, -3/285, $358,003.50
T-7: Hinako Shibuno, -3/285, $358,003.50
T-9: Ariya Jutanugarn, -2/286, $281,340.67
T-9: Angel Yin, -2/286, $281,340.67
T-9: Linn Grant, -2/286, $281,340.67
T-12: Charley Hull, -1/287, $229,197.60
T-12: Hannah Green, -1/287, $229,197.60
T-14: Ina Yoon, E/288, $179,245
T-14: Jin Young Ko, E/288, $179,245
T-14: Chiara Tamburlini, E/288, $179,245
T-14: Yealimi Noh, E/288, $179,245
T-14: Sarah Schmelzel, E/288, $179,245
T-19: Julia Lopez Ramirez, +1/289, $138,804
T-19: Madelene Sagstrom, +1/289, $138,804
T-19: Gaby Lopez, +1/289, $138,804
T-22: Esther Henseleit, +2/290, $110,035
T-22: Chisato Iwai, +2/290, $110,035
T-22: Andrea Lee, +2/290, $110,035
T-22: Minjee Lee, +2/290, $110,035
T-26: Lydia Ko, +3/291, $91,569.50
T-26: A Lim Kim, +3/291, $91,569.50
T-28: Pauline Roussin Bouchard, +4/292, $82,016.67
T-28: Jin Yan, +4/292, $82,016.67
T-28: Aline Krauter, +4/292, $82,016.67
T-31: Auston Kim, +5/293, $71,064.67
T-31: Allisen Corpuz, +5/293, $71,064.67
T-31: Anna Nordqvist, +5/293, $71,064.67
T-31: Lottie Woad, +5/293, $0 (amateur)
35: Ingrid Lindblad, +6/294, $64,129
T-36: Nataliya Guseva, +7/295, $53,854.86
T-36: Amy Yang, +7/295, $53,854.86
T-36: Miyu Yamashita, +7/295, $53,854.86
T-36: Saki Baba, +7/295, $53,854.86
T-36: Hyunjo Yoo, +7/295, $53,854.86
T-36: Farah O’Keefe, +7/295, $0 (amateur)
T-36: Carolina Lopez-Chacarra, +7/295, $0 (amateur)
T-36: Haeran Ryu, +7/295, $53,854.86
T-36: Yui Kawamoto, +7/295, $53,854.86
T-45: Kiara Romero, +8/296, $0 (amateur)
T-45: Sophie Hausmann, +8/296, $39,231.60
T-45: Sakura Koiwai, +8/296, $39,231.60
T-45: Akie Iwai, +8/296, $39,231.60
T-45: Amari Avery, +8/296, $39,231.60
T-45: Celine Boutier, +8/296, $39,231.60
T-51: Jinhee Im, +9/297, $31,334
T-51: Gemma Dryburgh, +9/297, $31,334
T-51: Rayee Feng, +9/297, $0 (amateur)
54: In Gee Chun, +10/298, $29,083
55: Maria Jose Marin, +11/299, $0 (amateur)
T-56: Shiho Kuwaki, +12/300, $27,501
T-56: Youmin Hwang, +12/300, $27,501
58: Celine Borge, +15/303, $26,527
59: Kiara Davidson Spilkova, +16/304, $26,041
60: Wichanee Meechai, +19/307, $25,797
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Main Image: Jason E. Miczek
