The Open prize money 2021: Players in line for record sums at Royal St George’s as payouts continue to rise
The biggest names in men’s golf are playing for record levels of Open prize money this week at Royal St George’s.
Organisers of the world’s oldest tournament have laid on extra bread at Sandwich by increasing the prize fund and winner’s cheque on the Kent coast.
The 156 players will be battling for a slice of $11.5m (£8.3m), with the winner set to bank $2.07m (£1.49m) for the first time.
That payout puts the Open prize money on a par with the Masters, the only other event to rival it for prestige.
But the other two men’s majors, the US Open and US PGA Championship, pay more and there are other even more lucrative events on the circuit.
How The Open prize money has increased
Both the total fund and the winner’s share of Open prize money are up by almost seven per cent this year.
The championship did not take place last year due to the pandemic, so the last edition was in 2019.
Prize money has steadily increased over the last decade by almost 50 per cent in US dollar terms and more than that in sterling.
Up to an including 2016 Open prize money was paid in British pounds. Organisers switched to dollars in 2017 to bring it into line with golf’s other big tournaments.
How The Open compares to other golf payouts
What The Open and the Masters lack in prize money, they make up for in history and cachet.
The US Open, won last month by Spain’s Jon Rahm, is the most lucrative major. It pays the winner $2.25m from a pot of $12.5m.
The US PGA Championship has the next most prize money of men’s golf’s big four events, paying $2.16m to its winner from a $12m fund.
But the serious cash lies elsewhere. The Players Championship, the unofficial fifth major, pays significantly more than the real majors.
And the biggest bonanzas are the end-of-season events on the two leading tours.
The European Tour’s DP World Tour Championship offers $3m to the winner, while there is $15m on offer to the winner of the Tour Championship in the US.