US Open prize money 2021: How much can the stars of men’s golf win at Torrey Pines?
US Open prize money reflects the event’s reputation as perhaps the most difficult of the four men’s majors.
Whoever triumphs at Torrey Pines this week will take home a winners’ prize of $2.25m from a total pot of $12.5m.
Those sums – frozen from last year – mean that US Open prize money remains the best of the men’s majors.
The Masters, where Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama donned the Green Jacket and scooped $2.07m, is next.
Veteran Phil Mickelson, meanwhile, banked $1.98m for winning the US PGA Championship last month.
The Open Championship boasts the most history of the majors but pays the least prize money.
Whoever claims the Claret Jug at Royal St George’s next month stands to pocket $1.89m.
While there is no substitute for the prestige of winning a major, the very biggest paydays lie elsewhere.
The unofficial fifth major, The Players Championship, offers $2.7m to the victor – 17 per cent more than the US Open prize money.
European golf’s season finale, the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai, pays its winner $3m.
But nothing comes close to the financial rewards on offer for finishing first at the Tour Championship, the last event of the PGA Tour season.
The last leg of the FedEx Cup Playoffs is worth $15m – more than all of golf’s other biggest prizes put together.
While US Open prize money and payouts at golf’s other big events has remained stable during the pandemic, other sports have suffered.
Tennis has seen payouts fall at the grand slam tournaments, while Premier League clubs made an aggregate loss of £1bn.