The Open purse increases by 22% for 150th edition at St. Andrews

NORTH BERWICK, Scotland – The purse for next week’s Open Championship will increase to $14 million, a 22-percent bump over the 2021 championship.

The increase keeps pace with purse hikes at the other major championships. The Masters and PGA Championship purses were $15 million while the U.S. Open jumped its payout to $17.5 million.

“There have been significant changes in prize money over the last year,” said R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers. “We have made this substantial investment while balancing our wider commitments to developing golf at all levels around the world and to continuing to elevate the AIG Women’s Open.”

The move is part of a wider counter to LIV Golf, which continues to woo the game’s top players away from the established circuits with $20 million purses and guaranteed contracts.

The PGA Tour announced last month dramatic increases in purse size starting next year with the Genesis Invitational, Arnold Palmer Invitational, WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play, Memorial, FedEx St. Jude Championship and BMW Championship all going to $20 million. The Players Championship purse will increase to $25 million in 2023.