British Open payout distribution 2024: Prize money, purse for The Open Championship
The 2024 British Open has been a grueling test at Royal Troon. With wind and rain wreaking havoc all week, but specifically on Friday and then for the leaders on Saturday for moving day, it's been the highest level of major championship golf. And on Sunday, we'll declare a new winner of The Open Championship as they hoist the Claret Jug and take home some huge prize money this week.
Going into Saturday, it seemed like Shane Lowry was well on track to win the British Open for the second time in his career. The weather and elements, however, caught up to him in the third round as he faded out of the lead. That allowed Billy Horschel, who shot one of the rounds of the day on Saturday -- particularly among the later tee times -- to take the solo lead. Yet, he was anything but safe with upstart Daniel Brown, Xander Schauffele, Russell Henley, Sam Burns and Justin Rose all right behind him.
Because of that, the British Open payouts this week are top of mind. How much prize money are these players weathering these elements and fighting this golf course to take home? We have it broken down, first with the winner's share and total purse, and then with a full look into the payouts by finishing position at Royal Troon.
British Open purse 2024: Winner's prize money, total purse
The 2024 British Open winner will receive a whopping $3.1 million in prize money this week at Royal Troon, a phenomenal payday handed out by the R&A this week. The governing body for The Open Championship raised the purse to a total $17 million this year, the largest in the history of this major championship. However, it is still the smallest -- which is a relative term -- among the four majors in golf, closest to the $18.5 million purse and $3.33 million winner's share at the PGA Championship. However, the British Open pales in comparison to the previous major, the US Open, and it's $21.5 million purse and $4.3 million winner's share.
British Open payout distribution by finishing position in 2024
Here's how the full British Open payouts break down by every finishing position. (Note: Only the Top 70 finishers are listed, so we are projecting No. 71-80 based on the trends.)
Finishing Position | British Open Prize Money |
|---|---|
Winner | $3.1 million |
2nd | $1.759 million |
3rd | $1.128 million |
4th | $876,000 |
5th | $705,000 |
6th | $611,000 |
7th | $525,000 |
8th | $442,500 |
9th | $388,000 |
10th | $350,600 |
11th | $319,200 |
12th | $282,800 |
13th | $266,000 |
14th | $249,000 |
15th | $231,000 |
16th | $212,700 |
17th | $202,400 |
18th | $193,000 |
19th | $184,900 |
20th | $176,200 |
21st | $168,000 |
22nd | $159,600 |
23rd | $151,000 |
24th | $142,600 |
25th | $137,600 |
26th | $131,800 |
27th | $127,000 |
28th | $122,600 |
29th | $117,300 |
30th | $111,200 |
31st | $107,600 |
32nd | $102,100 |
33rd | $98,500 |
34th | $95,700 |
35th | $92,400 |
36th | $88,700 |
37th | $84,600 |
38th | $80,300 |
39th | $77,400 |
40th | $74,900 |
41st | $71,800 |
42nd | $68,300 |
43rd | $65,200 |
44th | $61,500 |
45th | $58,000 |
46th | $55,000 |
47th | $52,800 |
48th | $50,700 |
49th | $48,400 |
50th | $47,200 |
51st | $46,200 |
52nd | $45,400 |
53rd | $44,700 |
54th | $44,000 |
55th | $43,300 |
56th | $42,700 |
57th | $42,300 |
58th | $42,000 |
59th | $41,700 |
60th | $41,400 |
61st | $41,200 |
62nd | $41,000 |
63rd | $40,800 |
64th | $40,600 |
65th | $40,300 |
66th | $40,000 |
67th | $39,700 |
68th | $39,400 |
69th | $39,100 |
70th | $38,900 |
71st | $38,700 |
72nd | $38,500 |
73rd | $38,300 |
74th | $38,100 |
75th | $37,900 |
76th | $37,700 |
77th | $37,500 |
78th | $37,300 |
79th | $37,100 |
80th | $36,900 |
In addition to the 80 players who made the cut at Royal Troon this week. The professionals who missed the cut will get at least $8,750 in prize money for the week, which is a decent prize for just qualifying, even if they didn't play all that well.
While the British Open payouts are the least profitable of the four majors, the money is still quite impressive overall. The runner-up and third-place finisher will join the winner in making seven-figures this week in Troon. Beyond that, all of the Top 32 finishers at The Open this year will receive more than $100,000 in prize money.
British Open purse, winner's prize money from the past five years
For more context, we're going to take a quick look back at the previous five British Open payouts and purses to see how much it's increased in recent years.
Open Championship Year | Total Purse | Winner's Prize Money |
|---|---|---|
2023 British Open | $16.5 million | $3 million |
2022 British Open | $14 million | $2.5 million |
2021 British Open | $11.5 million | $2.07 million |
2019 British Open | $10.75 million | $1.935 million |
2018 British Open | $10.5 million | $1.89 million |
We've seen a dramatic increase in the size of The Open Championship purse over the past few years. We seemed to be on a normal track of growth from 2018 to 2019 to 2021. However, not shockingly, with the money exploding around the emergence and prominence of LIV Golf, the prize money has started going up wildly. The total purse has increased $6.5 million from 2021 to the 2024 Open Championship with the winner's prize increasing $1.23 million over that span.
Talk about growth!
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