The Open Championship is giving its purse a $750,000 bump this year with a total prize pool of $17.5 million up for grabs at Royal Birkdale.
The winner will take home $3.2 million, an uptick of $100,000 from what Scottie Scheffler earned when lifting the claret jug at Royal Portrush.
Despite the increase, the Open remains the lowest purse among the four majors — and its 2026 boost is the smallest compared to peers.
The Masters jacked up its purse to $22.5 million earlier this year, up $1.5 million from 2025. The PGA Championship also had a $1.5 million bump to $20.5 million at Aronimink. The U.S. Open increased its purse by $1 million to $22.5 million last month.
“That’s a fair assumption,” joked R&A chief Mark Darbon during his press conference Wednesday when asked if the tournament was making a stand with its latest increase.
“No, we’ve increased our prize money this year up by three-quarters of a million — We are big believers in recognizing and rewarding the players,” he explained. “They’re the icons of our sport. They have a disproportionate impact on the status and standing of the game.”
Darbon said he views prize money as “part of a broader package” offered at The Open.
“We’ve also increased and continued to increase our investment into the player experience, and we’re very proud of the fact that we consistently get told by the players that the experience — the facilities, the services, the support — that we offer during Open Championship week sets the benchmark for the rest of golf,” he told reporters. “We’re intent on ensuring that that continues to remain the case.
“So prize money is but one component of that comparison. At the same time, we’re trying to find a model that gets the balance right. We have a relatively unique model at the R&A. We invest the proceeds that we generate from this Open Championship back into the sport. That’s really important for us, and we think we’re finding the right balance.”
A full breakdown of the 2026 Open Championship purse will be published later this week.