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GOLF · PRIZE MONEY · 1996-2026

The Open Championship prize money

Every Open Championship champion on record here, what the win paid and the year it was won. Ryan Fox took $3,200,000 in 2026, which is the most winning it has paid in 30 editions here.

The same tournament has run as British Open Championship, The Open. Those years are counted here, under the name it carries now.

EDITIONS 30
2026 WINNER Ryan Fox
WHAT IT PAID $3.2m
MOST WINS Tiger Woods three wins

Every The Open Championship winner

Newest first. The year opens that edition's full payout ladder.

1,394 payouts held
Every Open Championship edition held here, with the champion, the country played for, what the win paid and how many players were paid that year.
YEAR WINNER COUNTRY WHAT IT PAID PLAYERS PAID
2026 Ryan Fox NZL $3,200,000$3.2m 72
2025 Scottie Scheffler USA $3,100,000$3.1m 69
2024 Xander Schauffele USA $3,100,000$3.1m 72
2023 Brian Harman USA $3,000,000$3.0m 73
2022 Cameron Smith AUS $2,500,000$2.5m 71
2021 Collin Morikawa USA $2,070,000$2.1m 63
2019 Shane Lowry IRL $1,935,000$1.9m 61
2018 Francesco Molinari ITA $1,890,000$1.9m 68
2017 Jordan Spieth USA $1,845,000$1.8m 64
2016 Henrik Stenson SWE $1,549,590$1.5m 65
2015 Zach Johnson USA $1,794,690$1.8m 67
2014 Rory McIlroy NIR $1,665,790$1.7m 57
2013 Phil Mickelson USA $1,442,830$1.4m 59
2012 Ernie Els RSA $1,405,890$1.4m 59
2011 no first place held - 43
2010 Louis Oosthuizen RSA $1,305,590 51
2009 Stewart Cink USA $1,221,010 44
2008 Padraig Harrington IRL $1,498,880$1.5m 35
2007 Padraig Harrington IRL $1,542,450$1.5m 40
2006 Tiger Woods USA $1,338,480 36
2005 Tiger Woods USA $1,261,580 31
2004 no first place held - 27
2003 no first place held - 29
2002 Ernie Els RSA $1,106,140 23
2001 no first place held - 23
2000 Tiger Woods USA $759,150 23
1999 no first place held - 17
1998 no first place held - 17
1997 Justin Leonard USA $418,875 22
1996 Tom Lehman USA $310,000 13

We hold no first place for six of these 30 years, and those rows show a dash rather than a name. Every other figure in the row is held in full. Two names in a row is a pairs event, and both halves were paid the same cheque.

Won it more than once

Three players have taken the Open Championship at least twice

The players with more than one Open Championship win, the years they won and what those wins paid between them.
PLAYER WINS YEARS PAID FOR THOSE WINS
Tiger Woods 3 2006, 2005, 2000 $3,359,210$3.4m
Ernie Els 2 2012, 2002 $2,512,030$2.5m
Padraig Harrington 2 2008, 2007 $3,041,330$3.0m

The last column is the sum of the cheques we hold for exactly the years beside it, and nothing else. It is not a career total: what these players earned across the rest of their seasons is on their own pages.

What winning it has paid

The champion's cheque, 2005 to 2026

The twenty most recent editions we hold a winner's cheque for. The other four are in the table above, back to 1996.

The 2026 top ten

19 July 2026

72 players paid
The ten best-paid finishers at the 2026 Open Championship, with the score and the cheque.
PLACE PLAYER COUNTRY TO PAR PRIZE MONEY
1 Ryan Fox NZL -10 $3,200,000$3.2m
2 Cameron Young USA -9 $1,842,000$1.8m
3 Sam Burns USA -8 $1,181,000
T4 Scottie Scheffler USA -7 $827,500
T4 Tommy Fleetwood ENG -7 $827,500
T6 Casey Jarvis -6 $550,883
T6 Lucas Herbert AUS -6 $550,883
T6 Si Woo Kim KOR -6 $550,883
T9 Adam Scott AUS -5 $336,380
T9 Ludvig Aberg SWE -5 $336,380

The full 2026 ladder, all 72 cheques.

Frequently asked questions

Who won the Open Championship in 2026?

Ryan Fox, on 19 July 2026. The win was worth $3,200,000.

How much does the Open Championship winner get?

The 2026 champion took $3,200,000. The biggest winner's cheque across the 30 editions on this page is $3,200,000, which Ryan Fox collected in 2026.

Who has won the Open Championship most often?

Tiger Woods, three times: 2000, 2005, 2006. Those wins paid $3,359,210 between them.

How far back does The Open Championship prize money go here?

To 1996. This page carries 30 editions and 1,394 individual payouts across them, and we hold no first place for six of those years.

Where to next

The rest of the golf money

Golf tournament prize money carries the roll of honour for every event we hold, and golf earnings ranks the players themselves by what they have won across their careers. For the tournaments closest to this one, see RBC Heritage, The Sentry, Travelers Championship, Truist Championship, WM Phoenix Open, World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play, Baycurrent Classic, THE CJ CUP, THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson, World Golf Championships-Workday Championship at The Concession, Rocket Classic and Charles Schwab Challenge. Where a field is paid for every round it survives rather than once at the end, see Champions League prize money, and for a single event that pays a whole field on one night, World Championship darts prize money.