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We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again: The reward for winning a major championship is so much more than financial. And that’s particularly so for the Open, where Scottie Scheffler never left any real doubt on Sunday that he would walk away from Royal Portrush with golf’s most recognisable trophy—the claret jug—and its most distinguished label—“Champion Golfer of the Year.” The 29-year-old now has his fourth career major and is just a U.S. Open win shy of the career Grand Slam, thanks to shooting a final-round 68 for a 17-under 267 total.
They do, however, hand out a little money to the winner and the rest of the field that makes the cut. OK, a lot of money. Earlier this week, the R&A announced it was holding tight on the overall prize money payout for this year’s Open at $17 million overall, with the winner earning $3.1 million. The new R&A chief executive, Mark Darbon, has echoed his predecessor Martin Slumbers’ worries about the rising paydays in pro golf ultimately becoming a drag on the financial models for the organisations running the events. Yes, the players are the “talent” but at some point, the revenue earned in these events needs to help fund golf initiatives overall and if that revenue keeps decreasing for the sake of the purse, there is a cost. Oh, and the R&A had increased its payday every year prior since 2012.
How does the Open Championship’s payouts compare to other majors? Here’s the breakdown of the prize money payout at the three other men’s majors.
Masters: $21 million/$4.2 million
PGA: $19 million/ $3.42 million
U.S. Open: $21.5 million/$4.3 million
Another interesting way to compare the prize money payout this week is to look at it in relation to how much the previous winners at Royal Portrush have earned. This is the third time the R&A has taken the Open to Northern Ireland. The first was 1951, when Max Faulkner won £300 from an overall purse of £1,700. Suffice it to say, when the Open came back to Portrush in 2019, Shane Lowry was rewarded a bit more handsomely, earning $1.935 million from a $10.75 million overall purse.
OK, here’s what everybody who played 72 holes took home this week.
Win: Scottie Scheffler, -17, $3.1 million
2: Harris English, -13, $1.759 million
3: Chris Gotterup, -12, $1.128 million
T-4: Matt Fitzpatrick, -11, $730,667
T-4: Wyndham Clark, -11, $730,667
T-4: Haotong Li, -11, $730,667
T-7: Robert MacIntyre, -10, $451,833
T-7: Xander Schauffele, -10, $451,833
T-7: Rory McIlroy, -10, $451,833
T-10: Bryson DeChambeau, -9, $304,650
T-10: Corey Conners, -9, $304,650
T-10: Brian Harman, -9, $304,650
T-10: Russell Henley, -9, $304,650
T-14: Rickie Fowler, -8, $240,000
T-14: Nicolai Hojgaard, -8, $240,000
T-16: Jesper Svensson, -7, $185,257
T-16: Hideki Matsuyama, -7, $185,257
T-16: Tommy Fleetwood, -7, $185,257
T-16: John Parry, -7, $185,257
T-16: Justin Rose, -7, $185,257
T-16: Rasmus Hojgaard, -7, $185,257
T-16: Tyrrell Hatton, -7, $185,257
T-23: Maverick McNealy, -6, $138,040
T-23: J.J. Spaun, -6, $138,040
T-23: Lucas Glover, -6, $138,040
T-23: Dustin Johnson, -6, $138,040
T-23: Ludvig Aberg, -6, $138,040
T-28: Harry Hall, -5, $119,950
T-28: Oliver Lindell, -5, $119,950
T-30: Daniel Berger, -4, $104,850
T-30: Akshay Bhatia, -4, $104,850
T-30: Keegan Bradley, -4, $104,850
T-30: Kristoffer Reitan, -4, $104,850
T-34: Sergio Garcia, -3, $86,517
T-34: Aaron Rai, -3, $86,517
T-34: Jon Rahm, -3, $86,517
T-34: Justin Thomas, -3, $86,517
T-34: Christiaan Bezuidenhout, -3, $86,517
T-34: Lee Westwood, -3, $86,517
T-40: Shane Lowry, -2, $68,340
T-40: Jordan Spieth, -2, $68,340
T-40: Jason Kokrak, -2, $68,340
T-40: Takumi Kanaya, -2, $68,340
T-40: Nathan Kimsey, -2, $68,340
T-45: Matthew Jordan, -1, $51,186
T-45: Thomas Detry, -1, $51,186
T-45: Henrik Stenson, -1, $51,186
T-45: Jordan Smith, -1, $51,186
T-45: Sam Burns, -1, $51,186
T-45: Thirston Lawrence, -1, $51,186
T-45: Matt Wallace, -1, $51,186
T-52: Adrien Saddier, E, $44,350
T-52: Sepp Straka, E, $44,350
T-52: Marc Leishman, E, $44,350
T-52: Sungjae Im, E, $44,350
T-56: Phil Mickelson, 1, $42,333
T-56: Jhonattan Vegas, 1, $42,333
T-56: Tony Finau, +1, $42,333
T-59: Antoine Rozner, +2, $41,550
T-59: Justin Leonard, +2, $41,550
T-61: Dean Burmester, +3, $41,100
T-61: Romain Langasque, +3, $41,100
T-63: Riki Kawamoto, +4, $40,280
T-63: Andrew Novak, +4, $40,280
T-63: Viktor Hovland, +4, $40,280
T-63: Ryggs Johnston, +4, $40,280
T-63: Francesco Molinari, +4, $40,280
68: Jacob Skov Olesen, +6, $39,400
69: Matti Schmid, +8, $39,100
70: Sebastian Soderberg, +11, $38,900
For those missing the cut: the first 10 and ties will earn $12,350, the next 20 and ties will take home $10,300 and the rest of those missing the cut will earn $8,750.
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Main Image: Charles McQuillan/R&A
