Raising the Claret Jug on Sunday at the close of the 151st Open Championship was one of the most awaited moments for golf to happen this season. Brian Harman earned that honor with an outstanding four days at Royal Liverpool, including one of the best putting performances in a Major we’ve seen in a long time.
Not only can Harman now join the likes of Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy as major champions at Royal Liverpool, but he will also take some hardware and a whopping $3 million check home to the US by pocketing the winner’s prize.
The R&A significantly increased the budget for the 2023 Open, bringing it to $16.5 million from the $14 million total payout last year when the Open was held on the Old Course at St. Andrews. While the R&A is paying out more to golfers than ever before, The Open still lags behind the US Open ($20 million), the Masters ($18 million), and the PGA Championship ($17.5 million) in top payouts.
“Our aim is to ensure The Open remains at the forefront of world golf and we have almost doubled the prize money since 2016,” said R&A CEO Martin Slumbers ahead of the tournament. “As we see significant increases in prize money in men’s professional sports, we are delivering on our broader commitment to the sport by enhancing the AIG Women’s Open, strengthening pathways in elite amateur play and encouraging more people around the world to play golf. We believe that getting the balance right is critical to the long-term future of the sport.”
In 2016, the total prize money paid out was $8.5 million. Because of the exchange rate, it was even higher in 2014 when McIlroy won his third major league with Royal Liverpool. The purse totaled over $9.2 million this week.
Here’s a look at the total prize and each individual payout for the 151st Open Championship.
Open Championship 2023 purse and prize money
Total budget: $16.5 million
1st Place (Winner): $3,000,000 – Brian Harman
2nd Place: $1,708,000 – Jon Rahm, Jason Day, Tom Kim, Sepp Straka ($1,084,625 each)
3rd Place: $1,095,000
4th place: $851,000
5th place: $684,500
6th place: $593,000 – Rory McIlroy, Emiliano Grillo ($551,250 each)
7th place: $509,500
8th place: $429,700 – Cameron Young, Shubhankar Sharma ($403,350 each)
9th place: $377,000
10th Place: $340,500 – Tommy Fleetwood, Max Homa, Matthew Jordan ($308,400 each)
11th place: $310,000
12th place: $274,700
13th Place: $258,300 – Henrik Stenson, Hideki Matsuyama, Thomas Detry ($241,633 each)
14th place: $241,800
15th: $224,800
16th Place: $206,600 – Laurie Canter, Xander Schauffele, Alex Fitzpatrick, Viktor Hovland ($192,575 each)
17th: $196,600
18th: $187,500
19th: $179,600
20th place: $171,100 – Tyrell Hatton, Sungjae Im, Antoine Rozner ($163,067 each)
21st: $163,100
22nd place: $155,000
23rd Place: $146,700 – Adrian Meronk, Scottie Scheffler, Matthew Southgate, Louis Oosthuizen, Alex Noren, Stewart Cink, Byeong Hun An, Rickie Fowler, Jordan Spieth, Nicolai Hojgaard ($121,490 each)
24th: $138,500
25th: $133,800
26th: $128,000
27th: $123,300
28th: $119,100
29th: $113,800
30th: $108,000
31st: $104,500
32nd place: $99,200
33rd Place: $95,700 – Adam Scott, Oliver Wilson, Patrick Cantlay, Richard Bland, Wyndham Clark, Cameron Smith, Patrick Reed, Romain Langasque ($84,113 each)
34th: $93,000
35th: $89,800
36th place: $86,200
37th: $82,200
38th place: $78,000
39th: $75,200
40th: $72,800
41st Place: $69,800 – Marcel Siem, Victor Perez, Hurly Long, Jordan Smith, JT Poston, Alexander Bjork, Min Woo Lee, Matt Fitzpatrick ($58,725 each)
42nd place: $66,400
43rd: $63,400
44th: $59,800
45th: $56,400
46th: $53,400
47th: $51,300
48th: $49,300
49th place: $47,000 – Christiaan Bezuidenhout, Abraham Ancer, Brendon Todd ($45,933 each)
50th: $45,900
51st: $44,900
52nd Place: $44,100 – Ryan Fox, Corey Conners, Michael Stewart ($43,433 each)
53rd: $43,400
54th: $42,800
55th Place: $42,100 – Andrew Putnam, Gary Woodland, Adrian Otaegui, Zach Johnson ($41,375 each)
56th: $41,500
57th: $41,100
58th: $40,800
59th: $40,500 – Brandon Robinson-Thompson
60th Place: $40,200 – Scott Stallings, Bryson DeChambeau, Kurt Kitayama, Rikuya Hoshino ($39,900 each)
61st: $40,000
62nd place: $39,800
63rd: $39,600
64th Place: $39,400 – Padraig Harrington, Brooks Koepka, Richie Ramsay, Guido Migliozzi ($39,025 each)
65th: $39,200
66th: $38,900
67th: $38,600
68th Place: $38,300 – Danny Willett, David Lingmerth, Sami Valimaki ($38,033 each)
69th: $38,000
70th: $37,800
71st Place: $37,675 – Robert MacIntyre, Thomas Pieters, Joost Luiten ($37,550 each)
72nd place: $37,550
73rd: $37,425
74th Place: $37,300 – Christo Lamprecht (a), Thirston Lawrence
75th: $37,175 – Zack Fischer (76th)
With more than 70 professionals qualifying for the final two rounds, additional prize money was added. According to R&A, prize money decreased by $125 per qualifying place over 70 to a minimum of $36,550.