US Open prize money 2025: Golf’s most lucrative major freezes payouts
Organisers of this week’s US Open, the third men’s golf major of the year, have taken the unusual step of not increasing prize money for 2025.
But before you reach for a tiny violin, it’s worth remembering that the US Open remains the most lucrative of the four majors with total prize money of $21.5 (£15.9m).
The winner at Oakmont Country Club will receive $4.3m (£3.2m), just as Bryson DeChambeau did when he triumphed at Pinehurst last year.
That is marginally more than the $4.2m Rory McIlroy banked for finally winning the Masters in April, the $3.7m that Scottie Scheffler pocketed at the US PGA Championship last month, and the $3.1m Xander Schauffele trousered at the last Open Championship.
It is less, however, than the rewards on offer at The Players Championship, whose generous payouts and stellar field have earned it the tag of unofficial fifth men’s major.
The Players has a total prize pot of $25m, with the winner – the in-form McIlroy this year – taking home $5m.
USGA: US Open a leader in raising prize money
The US Open and Oakmont are notorious for their difficulty level but even those who fail to make the 60-strong cut receive $10,000 (£7,400) for their troubles.
Michael Whan, CEO of the USGA which organises the US Open, said: “We didn’t raise our purse this year. When I started at the USGA just four years ago, our purse was $12.5m, so I feel comfortable that we’ve been a leader in moving fast and bigger.”
When Ben Hogan won the US Open in 1950, his reward was a cheque for $4,000. Today’s prize money therefore represents a 1,075-fold increase.
Golf prize money has steadily risen in the professional era but has notably accelerated in the last decade due to the sport’s increasing commercialisation and the need to match the rewards on offer on the rival LIV Golf tour.
The 2025 US Open prize money is over five times what Tiger Woods received in 2000 at Pebble Beach, triple McIlroy’s payout in 2011 at Congressional and twice as much as Brooks Koepka earned in 2017 at Erin Hills.