The US Open is one of the biggest events in golf, and with it comes a handsome prize fund for the competitors and a large chunk for the winner.
In 2024, USGA CEO Mike Whan announced before the US Open, the organisation’s 1000th event, that the total purse that week was $21.5 million and the winner would receive the staggering amount of $4.3 million.
This prize money mark stayed the same in 2025, which meant that J.J. Spaun took home $4.3 million from the $21.5 million payout.
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Well, the prize money for the 2026 US Open has gone up. It is now $22.5 million, so it’s up by $1 million, and the winner will receive $4.5 million.
“We’ll play for a purse of $22,500,000, which means the winner will receive $4.5 million,” USGA CEO Mike Whan said ahead of the event, which was the same purse as the Masters.
“Last time we were here was 2018. The purse was $12 million. We’re back in 2026 with a purse of $22.5 million. We’re proud of keeping that pace as well.
“I think at the end of the day – we believe, and it’s fair if you want to disagree with it, we believe we’re the best championship in the game, and we want a lot of aspects to be the best championship in the game.
“Where we go, how we treat the players, how we pay out, how we’re televised, and we’re proud of the fact there’s more network hours on the US Open than any other major championship.
“Some of that’s just personal pride. We want to be big. We want to be the best. We want to make sure it’s life-changing in multiple ways.
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“We also are not in a race. We’re not chasing – we’re proud of where we are. I couldn’t tell you and until I get some truth serum in here how much farther we go in the years to come, but we think it’s a measure of how we feel about our championship. It needs to be significant and stand out. We think 22.5 does.”
While we wait until the tournament is finished to see a full breakdown of prize money, here is what it looked like this time last year…
Prize money at US Open golf:
2025
Win: J.J. Spaun: $4,300,000
2. Robert MacIntyre: $2,322,000
3. Viktor Hovland: $1,459,284
T4. Cameron Young, Tyrrell Hatton, Carlos Ortiz: $876,869
T7. Sam Burns, Jon Rahm, Scottie Scheffler: $614,423
T10. Russell Henley, Ben Griffin: $465,937
Last Place: Philip Barbaree Jr.: $41,692
2025
Purse: $21.5 million
Winner: $4,300,000 (J.J. Spaun)
2024
Purse: $21.5 million
Winner: $4,300,000 (Bryson DeChambeau)
2023
Purse: $20 million
Winner: $3,600,000 (Wyndham Clark)
2022
Purse: $17,500,000
Winner: $3,150,000 (Matt Fitzpatrick)
2021
Purse: $12,500,000
Winner: $2,250,000 (Jon Rahm)
2020
Purse: $12,500,000
Winner: $2,250,000 (Bryson DeChambeau)
2019
Purse: $12,500,000
Winner: $2,250,000 (Gary Woodland)
2018
Purse: $12,000,000
Winner: $2,160,000 (Brooks Koepka)
2017
Purse: $12,000,000
Winner: $2,160,000 (Brooks Koepka)
2016
Purse: $10,00,000
Winner: $1,800,000 (Dustin Johnson)
2015
Purse: $10,00,000
Winner: $1,800,000 (Jordan Spieth)
2014
Purse: $9,000,000
Winner: $1,620,000 (Martin Kaymer)
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