The final major championship of the 2026 golf season has come to a close with the world’s best players attacking Royal Birkdale in Southport, England, in the Open Championship. As has been the case for years, The Open has by far the lowest prize money of all four majors, but that doesn’t make winning the Claret Jug any less valuable for Ryan Fox, the 2026 Champion Golfer of the Year.
This year, the R&A increased the Open Championship’s total prize to $17.5 million, a $500,000 increase from 2025. That’s still $3 million less than the next closest major prize pool (PGA Championship, $20.5 million in 2026), but the organization isn’t necessarily aiming for the biggest payout, especially given the history with The Open and associated with his courses.
While prize money has skyrocketed across the golf world, The Open has been consistent in structuring its prize money, achieving steady, modest gains rather than the big jumps of the other majors. The appeal of The Open isn’t the money; It’s a chance for players to make their mark in golf history by winning the Claret Jug in the oldest major tournament and securing the coveted title of Champion Golfer of the Year.
Perhaps this is some kind of statement from the R&A to avoid competing with the Masters and US Open in an arms race for prize money while keeping the Open a little purer, even if that means paying out less than a PGA Tour signature event.
Still, there’s a hefty check that comes with winning the Champion Golfer of the Year crown and winning the Claret Jug: Fox takes home $3.2 million, with the top seven finishers earning at least $500,000 and the top 34 on the final leaderboard all taking home six-figure payouts.
It was a historic week in England, with three different players setting the Major Championship record (Fox, Sam Burns, Lucas Herbert), and Fox emerged as the deserving champion at the end, completing the greatest 36-hole comeback by position in the history of the Men’s Major Championship.
Table of Contents
Prize money, Open Championship 2026 purse
Total budget: $17.5 million
1st Place: $3,200,000 – Ryan Fox
2nd place: $1,842,000 – Cameron Young
3rd Place: $1,181,000 – Sam Burns
4th Place: $917,000 – Tommy Fleetwood, Scottie Scheffler ($827,500 each)
5th place: $738,000
6th Place: $639,700 – Lucas Herbert, Casey Jarvis, Si Woo Kim ($550,833 each)
7th place: $549,700
8th place: $463,250
9th place: $406,200 – Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, Ryan Gerard, Russell Henley, Adam Scott, Ludvig Åberg ($336,380 each)
10th place: $367,000
11th: $334,200
12th place: $296,000
13th place: $278,500
14th place: $260,700 – Sungjae Im, Hideki Matsuyama, Corey Conners, Bryson DeChambeau ($234,325 each)
15th: $241,900
16th place: $222,700
17th: $212,000
18th place: $202,000 – Daniel Brown, Bud Cauley, Jordan Smith, Xander Schauffele, Rickie Fowler, Marco Penge, Kristoffer Reitan, Collin Morikawa, Alex Noren, Chris Gotterup ($164,575 each)
19th: $193,600
20th: $184,500
21st: $175,900
22nd place: $167,100
23rd: $158,100
24th: $149,300
25th: $144,250
26th: $138,000
27th: $133,000
28th place: $128,400 – Robert MacIntyre, John Parry, Pierceson Coody, Cameron John, Patrick Cantlay, Brooks Koepka, Shane Lowry, Victor Perez, Jackson Suber, Max Homa, Kazuma Kobori, Jacob Bridgeman ($102,817 each)
29th: $122,800
30th: $116,500
31st: $112,700
32nd place: $106,900
33rd: $103,100
34th: $100,200
35th: $96,700
36th place: $92,900
37th: $88,500
38th: $84,100
39th: $81,000
40th place: $78,400 – JJ Spaun, Thomas Detry, Matt Wallace, Kurt Kitayama, Rory McIlroy, Michael Thorbjornsen ($69,750 each)
41st: $75,200
42nd place: $71,500
43rd: $68,300
44th: $64,400
45th: $60,700
46th place: $57,600 – Jon Rahm, Jose Luis Ballester Barrio, Patrick Reed, Hennie Du Plessis, Matthew Southgate, Francesco Molinari, Eugenio Lopez-Chacarra ($51,707 each)
47th: $55,300
48th: $53,100
49th: $50,700
50th: $49,400
51st: $48,350
52nd place: $47,500
53rd place: $46,800 – Shaun Norris, Sahith Theegala, Eric Cole, Michael Brennan, Ryo Hisatsune, Alex Smalley ($45,183 each)
54th: $46,100
55th: $45,300
56th: $44,700
57th: $44,250
58th: $43,950
59th place: $43,625 – Naoyuki Kataoka, Min Woo Lee, Nick Taylor, Aldrich Potgieter, Ben Griffin, Johnny Keefer ($43,025 each)
60th: $43,325
61st: $43,100
62nd place: $42,900
63rd: $42,700
64th: $42,500
65th place: $42,150 – Justin Thomas, Peter Uihlein ($41,988 each)
66th: $41,825
67th place: $41,500 – Nico Echavarría, Sepp Straka ($41,350 each)
68th: $41,200
69th place: $40,900 – Tyrrell Hatton, Andy Sullivan ($40,800 each)
70th: $40,700
71st: $40,575 – MJ Daffue, Laurie Canter, Alex Fitzpatrick ($40,450 each)
72nd place: $40,450
73rd: $40,325
74th place: $40,200 – Marcus Plunkett, Keegan Bradley, Kazuki Higa ($40,075 each)
75th: $40,075
76th: $39,950
77th: $39,825 – Jack McDonald
78th: $39,700 – Jesper Svensson
https://www.cbssports.com/golf/news/open-2026-purse-prize-money-payouts-winner-share/
