The final major of the 2023 men's golf season compares favorably to the others in terms of prestige, but once again it falls short when it comes to prize money.
Not that the money available at this year's Open Championship was anything to sneeze at. The tournament featured a sizable increase in purse from 2022, when Cameron Smith won both the Claret Jug and the $2.5 million winner's share.
This year's winner, 36-year-old PGA Tour veteran Brian Harman, will take home a cool $3 million in addition to the famous trophy. Harman completed his dominant victory on Sunday by finishing the tournament at 13 under par, six strokes better than his nearest competition.
Here's a breakdown of the Open Championship purse in 2023 and how it compares not only to last year's tournament purse but also to each of golf's majors:
MORE: PGA Tour veteran Brian Harman dominates to win 2023 Open Championship
Open Championship purse 2023
According to an ESPN report, the R&A increased the Open Championship purse to $16.5 million in 2023, a 17.9 percent jump from last year's $14.5 million purse.
Even with the increase in purse, the Open still trails each of the other golf majors in terms of total prize money:
- U.S. Open: $20 million
- Masters Tournament: $18 million
- PGA Championship: $17.5 million
- Open Championship: $16.5 million
The 2023 Players Championship's $25 million purse is still the largest in golf history, at least in terms of individual winnings. Each LIV Golf tournament has a $25 million purse, with $20 million for individual placements and $5 million split among the teams that finish in the top three.
MORE: Revisiting Rory McIlroy's 2014 major wins
How much money does the Open Championship winner get?
Brian Harman received $3 million with his win this week, or 20 percent more than the $2.5 million Smith won last year. The winner's share represents 18.1 percent of the total purse, which is a barely higher percentage than those of the other three majors.
But Harman still made less than the winners of the U.S. Open (Wyndham Clark), Masters (Jon Rahm) and PGA Championship (Brooks Koepka):
- U.S. Open: $3.6 million (18 percent)
- Masters: $3.24 million (18 percent)
- PGA Championship: $3.15 million (18 percent)
- Open Championship: $3 million (18.1 percent)
Open Championship payouts
Below are the payouts for top 70 placements in the tournament, per PGATour.com:
| Place | Projected payout |
| 1 | $3,000,000 |
| 2 | $1,708,000 |
| 3 | $1,095,000 |
| 4 | $851,000 |
| 5 | $684,500 |
| 6 | $593,000 |
| 7 | $509,500 |
| 8 | $429,700 |
| 9 | $377,000 |
| 10 | $340,500 |
| 11 | $310,000 |
| 12 | $274,700 |
| 13 | $258,300 |
| 14 | $241,800 |
| 15 | $224,800 |
| 16 | $206,600 |
| 17 | $196,600 |
| 18 | $187,500 |
| 19 | $179,600 |
| 20 | $171,100 |
| 21 | $163,100 |
| 22 | $155,000 |
| 23 | $146,700 |
| 24 | $138,500 |
| 25 | $133,800 |
| 26 | $128,000 |
| 27 | $123,300 |
| 28 | $119,100 |
| 29 | $113,900 |
| 30 | $108,000 |
| 31 | $104,500 |
| 32 | $99,200 |
| 33 | $95,700 |
| 34 | $93,000 |
| 35 | $89,800 |
| 36 | $86,200 |
| 37 | $82,200 |
| 38 | $78,000 |
| 39 | $75,200 |
| 40 | $72,800 |
| 41 | $69,800 |
| 42 | $66,400 |
| 43 | $63,400 |
| 44 | $59,800 |
| 45 | $56,400 |
| 46 | $53,400 |
| 47 | $51,300 |
| 48 | $49,300 |
| 49 | $47,000 |
| 50 | $45,900 |
| 51 | $44,900 |
| 52 | $44,100 |
| 53 | $43,400 |
| 54 | $42,800 |
| 55 | $42,100 |
| 56 | $41,500 |
| 57 | $41,100 |
| 58 | $40,800 |
| 59 | $40,500 |
| 60 | $40,200 |
| 61 | $40,000 |
| 62 | $39,800 |
| 63 | $39,600 |
| 64 | $39,400 |
| 65 | $39,200 |
| 66 | $38,900 |
| 67 | $38,600 |
| 68 | $38,300 |
| 69 | $38,000 |
| 70 | $32,200 |
In cases of a tie, winnings were divided based on the number of players who finished tied for the placement. For example, because four players tied for second this week, they will each receive an equal cut of the total winnings from places second through fifth. That comes out to $1,027,750 apiece.