By Ryan Herrington
You had to shoot low to win big on Sunday at St Andrews, as Cameron Smith proved with a closing eight-under 64. And you were probably more focused on holding the Claret Jug and the title Champion Golfer of the Year than the cash that came with a victory at the 150th Open Championship.

But just to be clear that cash isn’t anything to turn your back on.

Earlier in the month, the R&A announced that it had increased the overall prize money payout at the Open by 22 percent, bumping the purse to a record $14 million. The aforementioned winner will earn a $2.5 million payday for his victory. (The R&A began paying out its prize money in US dollars in 2016.)

The R&A isn’t alone in having increasing its purse. The three other groups that run the men’s majors have all pumped up their payouts significantly in 2022. Here’s the breakdown for the others:

Masters: $15 million (overall)/$2.7 million (winner)
PGA: $15 million/$2.7 million
US Open: $17.5 million/$3.15 million

The increases in paydays at majors are not a coincidence. They correspond with the overall jumps in purses available at men’s professional events in general, a byproduct at least in part because of the LIV Golf series. The Saudi-backed group has come on the scene in 2022, hosting two events so far with six more to come, each giving out a minimum of $25 million to 48 competitors. Charl Schwartzel and Branden Grace, winners of the first two no-cut 54-hole tournaments, each earned $4 million paydays, with the best teams of four also taking home an bumper bonus.

The PGA Tour has also seen overall prize money payouts rise this season to $427 million, up from $367 million. And last month, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said that the tour would be bumping up purses at eight events next season by a combined $45 million. Six of those events will be giving out $20 million and the Players Championship will have prize money payouts totalling $25 million.

Back to the Open: Another interesting way to look at the prize money payout this week is in relation to how much the previous winners at St Andrews have earned. We’ve got a list here since the Second World War, along with the first time it hosted the major in 1873 for fun. It is interesting to see that the purse at the Open has more than doubled since the last time the major visited the Home of Golf.
Year: Total Prize Money (US Dollars)/Winner
1873: Unknown/£11 (Tom Kidd)
1939: £500 ($593)/£100 (Dick Burton)
1946: £1,000 ($1,185)/£150 (Sam Snead)
1955: £3,750 ($4,445)/£1,000 (Peter Thomson)
1957: £3,750 ($4,445)/£1,000 (Bobby Locke)
1960: £7,000 ($8,298)/£1,250 (Kel Nagle)
1964: £8,500 ($10,076)/£1,500 (Tony Lema)
1970: £40,000 ($47,419)/£5,250 (Jack Nicklaus)
1978: £125,000 ($148,187)/£25,000 (Jack Nicklaus)
1984: £451,000 ($534,660)/£55,000 (Seve Ballesteros)
1990: £825,000 ($978,036)/£85,000 (Nick Faldo)
1995: £1.25 million ($1,481,873)/£125,000 (John Daly)
2000: £2.7 million ($3,200,847)/£500,000 (Tiger Woods)
2005: £4 million ($4,741,996)/£720,000 (Tiger Woods)
2010: £4.8 million ($5,690,395)/£850,000 (Louis Oosthuizen)
2015: £6.3 million ($7,468,643)/£1.15 million (Zach Johnson)

And here’s what everybody took home this week:
Win: Cameron Smith, -20, $2,500,000
2: Cameron Young, -19, $1,455,000
3: Rory McIlroy, -18, $933,000
T-4: Tommy Fleetwood, -14, $654,000
T-4: Viktor Hovland, -14, $654,000
T-6: Brian Harman, -13, $469,500
T-6: Dustin Johnson, -13, $469,500
T-8: Bryson DeChambeau, -12, $325,667
T-8: Patrick Cantlay, -12, $325,667
T-8: Jordan Spieth, -12, $325,667
T-11: Sadom Kaewkanjana, -11, $231,000
T-11: Abraham Ancer, -11, $231,000
T-11: Dean Burmester, -11, $231,000
T-11: Tyrrell Hatton, -11, $231,000
T-15: Lucas Herbert, -10, $165,583
T-15: Xander Schauffele, -10, $165,583
T-15: Anthony Quayle, -10, $165,583
T-15: Francesco Molinari, -10, $165,583
T-15: Adam Scott, -10, $165,583
T-15: Si Woo Kim, -10, $165,583
T-21: Billy Horschel, -9, $120,286
T-21: Min Woo Lee, -9, $120,286
T-21: Trey Mullinax, -9, $120,286
T-21: Shane Lowry, -9, $120,286
T-21: Kevin Kisner, -9, $120,286
T-21: Matt Fitzpatrick, -9, $120,286
T-21: Scottie Scheffler, -9, $120,286
T-28: Tony Finau, -8, $90,917
T-28: Corey Conners, -8, $90,917
T-28: Harold Varner III, -8, $90,917
T-28: Will Zalatoris, -8, $90,917
T-28: Dylan Frittelli, -8, $90,917
T-28: Thomas Pieters, -8, $90,917
T-34: Thomas Detry, -7, $68,906
T-34: Robert MacIntyre, -7, $68,906
T-34: Talor Gooch, -7, $68,906
T-34: Lee Westwood, -7, $68,906
T-34: Sahith Theegala, -7, $68,906
T-34: Jon Rahm, -7, $68,906
T-34: Victor Perez, -7, $68,906
T-34: Aaron Wise, -7, $68,906
T-42: Sam Burns, -6, $51,000
T-42: Jason Kokrak, -6, $51,000
T-42: Thriston Lawrence, -6, $51,000
T-42: Adrian Meronk, -6, $51,000
T-42: Chris Kirk, -6, $51,000
T-47: Garrick Higgo, -5, $40,600
T-47: Patrick Reed, -5, $40,600
T-47: Jordan Smith, -5, $40,600
T-47: Yuto Katsuragawa, -5, $40,600
T-47: JooHyung Kim, -5, $40,600
T-47: Filippo Celli, -5, Amateur
T-53: Joaquin Niemann, -4, $35,656
T-53: Danny Willett, -4, $35,656
T-53: Robert Dinwiddie, -4, $35,656
T-53: Lars Van Meijel, -4, $35,656
T-53: Justin Thomas, -4, $35,656
T-53: Paul Casey, -4, $35,656
T-53: Jason Scrivener, -4, $35,656
T-53: Brad Kennedy, -4, $35,656
T-53: Nicolai Højgaard, -4, $35,656
T-62: Cameron Tringale, -3, $33,625
T-62: Sebastián Muñoz, -3, $33,625
T-62: John Parry, -3, $33,625
T-62: David Carey, -3, $33,625
T-62: Ian Poulter, -3, $33,625
T-62: Russell Henley, -3, $33,625
T-68: Hideki Matsuyama, -2, $32,525
T-68: Sergio Garcia, -2, $32,525
T-68: Christiaan Bezuidenhout, -2, $32,525
T-68: Richard Mansell, -2, $32,525
T-72: David Law, -1, $32,013
T-72: Kurt Kitayama, -1, $32,013
T-74: Marcus Armitage, E, $31,763
T-74: Justin De Los Santos, E, $31,763
T-76: Wyndham Clark, +1 $31,513
T-76: Adri Arnaus, +1 $31,513
T-76: Aaron Jarvis, +1 Amateur
T-79: Laurie Canter, +2 $31,325
T-79: Barclay Brown, +2 Amateur
T-81: Sam Bairstow, +4 Amateur
T-81: Sungjae Im, +4 $31,200
83: Jamie Rutherford, +8 $31,075
Non-qualifiers after two rounds: Leading 10 professional golfers and ties $10,500; next 20 professional golfers and ties $8,500; remainder of professional golfers and ties $7,000.

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