British Open Purse: How Much Prize Money Does Winner Make?

Getty The 2017 champion Jordan Spieth returned the Claret Jug just in time for this year's tournament.

The winner of The Open Championship, formerly The British Open, makes $1.89 million. The first two finishers of the tournament make over $1 million as second place earns just over $1 million. The tournament gives out a total of $10.5 million to all the participants.

The purse is close to the $11 million purse of other majors like the Masters and THE PLAYERS Championship. The Open Championship is unique in that many of the tee times take place in the middle of the night in the United States. Prior to the start of the 2018 tournament, Tiger Woods spoke about the fun but challenging nature of the course.

“I’ve always loved playing links golf,” Woods explained to the USA Today. “It’s my favorite type of golf. I enjoy this type of golf because it is creative and you have to use your mind. We’re not going to get the most perfect bounces. A certain shot that is hit where you think is a wonderful shot down the middle of the fairway could bounce some weird way. That’s just part of it. That’s the fun challenge of it.”

The winner also receives the Claret Jug, but has to return it by the start of next year’s tournament. The Open Championship detailed the tradition.

The first time a medal was given to the winner was in 1872, when no trophy was available. Unlike the Claret Jug, which must be returned in time for the next Championship, the Gold Medal is kept by the winner. The early Gold Medals, which in fact were silver gilt, were large ovals with a central design of a shield and crossed clubs. Around the edge was the inscription ‘Golf Champion Trophy’. During the late 1880s and early 1890s, the design of the medal underwent several changes. The circular medal was first introduced in 1893 and the basic size and shape has not changed since then.

That same year, the medal was assigned a value of £10 and this was deducted from the advertised purse for the winner. In 1920, the value of the winner’s medal was increased to £25 and again deducted from his share of the prize fund. This practice stopped after the 1929 Open Championship and from 1930 onwards, the winner no longer had to ‘pay’ for his medal.

Jordan Spieth won the 2017 tournament, and admitted it was a little difficult to give back the Claret Jug.

“The traditions of The Open are very special, even if you’re on the wrong end of that one,” Spieth explained to the PGA Tour. “Because of that, it actually hit me harder. I was like, man, this was in my possession. I took it to all the places that allowed me to get to where I am today. My family was able to take it around. Members of the team were able to take it…It’s the coolest trophy that our sport has to offer, so having to return that was certainly difficult. Kind of hit me a little bit there on the tee box.”

Here’s a full rundown of the 2018 Open Championship purse courtesy of Golf News.

The Open Championship 2018 Purse & Prize Money Breakdown