U.S. Open: payout, prize money and winning purse info
A look at how golf’s second major, the U.S. Open, pays out its prize money.
Golf’s second major, the U.S. Open, wraps up ints final round on Sunday from Chambers Bay Golf Course in University Place, Washington. Meaning that this Father’s Day (assuming there is no 5th day playoff), one player will take home one of the richest purses in all of golf.
Next: Complete List of U.S. Open Winners
After raising its prize money last year to $9 million, the U.S. Open again bumped up the payout for 2015. It now sits at a cool $10 million, which is equal to that of the Masters, PGA Championship and “golf’s 5th major” The Players. With Jordan Spieth collecting $1.8 million from his Masters win and Ricky Fowler pulling down the same at The Players, the winner of this year’s U.S. Open figures to collect the same amount – 18% of the total prize money.
Heading into Day 4, there were a handful of players primed to make a strong run at the title. Jason Day battled vertigo to shoot a 68 on Saturday and sits tied for first at 4-under. Alongside him atop the leaderboard are Branden Grace, and Americans Dustin Johnson and Spieth. The Masters champion had a chance at the outright lead, but double-bogeyed on his final hole on Saturday (in effect calling No. 18 “the dumbest hole I’ve ever played in my life”).
Behind that grouping sits another foursome that is tied for 5th at 1-under. After an opening day 77, Louis Oosthuizen has put together back-to-back days of 66 to throttle himself right into contention. Next to him are Cameron Smith, Shane Lowry and J.B. Holmes.
Given the way that Chambers Bay has played all week – long, fast and treacherous – it’s still a wide open tournament. The leaders can come back to the pack with only a slight misstep at an errant hole (much like Spieth on 18). Likewise, a guy such as Oosthuizen who has stayed hot can rocket up the leaderboard while everyone else is playing in the sand.