U.S. Open $US20m Prize Purse Now Matching ‘Elevated’ PGA Tour Status.

2 years ago by Comments Off on U.S. Open $US20m Prize Purse Now Matching ‘Elevated’ PGA Tour Status.

The prize purse for this week’s 123rd U.S Open has been advised as $US 20m, the richest of the four men’s majors and also now matching the series of ‘elevated’ events on the PGA Tour.

The U.S. Open is up $US 2.5m on last year and, by comparison, in 2021, the purse was $12.5 million.

Of course, prize money in the men’s pro game has jumped appreciably since the Saudi-funded LIV Golf arrived with its $25 million purses ($20 million for the 54-hole individual competitions).

It is why this year, the PGA Tour responded with $20 million purses at 10 tournaments, with $25 million for The Players Championship.

What You Need To Know

  • The U.S. Open is the new standard among majors when it comes to prize money
  • The Masters went up to $18 million this year, while the PGA Championship increased to $17.5 million
  • Still to be announced is the prize money for The Open. It was at $14 million last year
  • The $20 million now is equal to the elevated events on the PGA Tour

The Masters increased its purse to $18 million this year, while the PGA Championship raised its prize money to $US 17.5m

The R & A, as organisers of The Open, has yet to announced its prize money for next month’s championship at Royal Liverpool.  Last year’s 150th anniversary Open at St. Andrews was $US 14m.

“In general for us, we want this to be big,” said Mike Whan, the CEO of the USGA. “We have to find the right balance of bigness in terms of where we play it, how we televise it, how many people we let on this golf course. I think purse is part of that.”

Wran also acknowledged the USGA has other projects, including its other 14 championships (U.S. Women’s Open, U.S. Amateur) and sustainability studies.

He also said the USGA wasn’t going to get into a money race with the PGA Tour, which operates a full schedule throughout the year with local organizations in charge of various tournaments and different sponsors for each.

“We understand that purses can be relative, and in order to be big we have to understand what else is going on in the world, and we do,” he said. “We’re not in a chase to be the biggest check, but we want to make sure that the money and the opportunity here, whether they’re a tour player, college player, amateur, how they got here, that’s still part of the bigness, and we believe it is.”

  • As quoted by AP


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