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GOLF · ALL-TIME EARNERS · 1996-2026

The Open Championship all-time earners

Ernie Els has taken $5,697,631 out of the Open Championship in 28 starts, winning it twice. That is the most of the 350 golfers we hold a cheque for here, across 30 editions from 1996 to 2026, ahead of Rory McIlroy on $5,688,374.

TOP EARNER Ernie Els
THEIR TOTAL $5.7m
GOLFERS PAID 350
EDITIONS 30 1996-2026

The Open Championship money list

The top 100 of the 350 golfers paid here, every edition added together

1,394 cheques held
The golfers paid most at the Open Championship across every edition we hold, with their starts, paid finishes, wins, best finish and total prize money.
# PLAYER STARTS PAID WINS BEST PRIZE MONEY
1 Ernie Els 28 19 2 1 $5,697,631$5.7m
2 Rory McIlroy 17 13 1 1 $5,688,374$5.7m
3 Tiger Woods 22 16 3 1 $5,463,128$5.5m
4 Xander Schauffele 9 9 1 1 $4,985,387$5.0m
5 Scottie Scheffler 6 6 1 1 $4,876,369$4.9m
6 Jordan Spieth 13 12 1 1 $4,576,252$4.6m
7 Phil Mickelson 28 20 1 1 $4,213,447$4.2m
8 Henrik Stenson 21 15 1 1 $4,131,971$4.1m
9 Brian Harman 11 6 1 1 $3,989,825$4.0m
10 Padraig Harrington 29 17 2 1 $3,951,194$4.0m
11 Sergio Garcia 26 20 - T2 $3,863,172$3.9m
12 Cameron Young 5 4 - 2 $3,790,570$3.8m
13 Ryan Fox 10 7 1 1 $3,591,865$3.6m
14 Adam Scott 26 20 - 2 $3,516,996$3.5m
15 Tommy Fleetwood 12 8 - 2 $3,374,300$3.4m
16 Shane Lowry 14 9 1 1 $3,284,061$3.3m
17 Justin Rose 24 15 - T2 $3,259,616$3.3m
18 Louis Oosthuizen 18 9 1 1 $3,252,352$3.3m
19 Lee Westwood 27 21 - 2 $3,118,778$3.1m
20 Zach Johnson 20 13 1 1 $2,835,833$2.8m
21 Francesco Molinari 18 11 1 1 $2,813,400$2.8m
22 Cameron Smith 9 5 1 1 $2,758,906$2.8m
23 Jon Rahm 10 9 - T2 $2,649,888$2.6m
24 Collin Morikawa 6 3 1 1 $2,437,275$2.4m
25 Rickie Fowler 15 14 - T2 $2,365,316$2.4m
26 Dustin Johnson 16 13 - T2 $2,300,699$2.3m
27 Stewart Cink 27 16 1 1 $2,271,880$2.3m
28 Jason Day 14 10 - T2 $2,164,233$2.2m
29 Harris English 11 7 - 2 $2,001,591$2.0m
30 Ian Poulter 20 13 - 2 $1,994,210$2.0m
31 Jim Furyk 22 15 - 4 $1,918,204$1.9m
32 Retief Goosen 19 16 - T5 $1,707,215$1.7m
33 Matt Kuchar 16 9 - 2 $1,664,154$1.7m
34 Billy Horschel 11 4 - T2 $1,656,278$1.7m
35 Brooks Koepka 12 9 - T4 $1,649,173$1.6m
36 Marc Leishman 12 7 - 2 $1,588,202$1.6m
37 Russell Henley 12 7 - 5 $1,538,743$1.5m
38 Haotong Li 7 3 - 3 $1,456,042$1.5m
39 Sam Burns 6 5 - 3 $1,399,344$1.4m
40 Tony Finau 9 7 - 3 $1,369,305$1.4m
41 Justin Leonard 22 11 1 1 $1,336,051$1.3m
42 Alex Noren 13 9 - T6 $1,322,211
43 Sepp Straka 5 4 - T2 $1,321,387
44 Chris Gotterup 2 2 - 3 $1,292,575
45 Vijay Singh 18 12 - T2 $1,277,564
46 Tyrrell Hatton 14 7 - T5 $1,271,083
47 Hideki Matsuyama 12 9 - T6 $1,268,949
48 Davis Love III 17 11 - T4 $1,266,078
49 Paul Casey 19 14 - T3 $1,234,815
50 Steve Stricker 15 13 - 4 $1,175,221
51 Matthew Fitzpatrick 11 7 - T4 $1,157,157
52 Joohyung Kim 5 2 - T2 $1,125,220
53 Viktor Hovland 6 4 - T4 $1,108,238
54 Corey Conners 7 6 - T10 $1,043,060
55 Thriston Lawrence 4 4 - 4 $1,015,486
56 Bryson DeChambeau 9 6 - T8 $991,846
57 Luke Donald 16 9 - T5 $977,832
58 Danny Willett 11 9 - T6 $976,831
59 Robert MacIntyre 6 6 - T7 $961,594
60 Kevin Kisner 7 6 - T2 $955,495
61 Sungjae Im 6 5 - T7 $924,775
62 Andres Romero 5 5 - 3 $922,472
63 Emiliano Grillo 8 4 - T6 $911,687
64 Graeme McDowell 14 11 - T5 $907,157
65 Tom Lehman 22 11 1 1 $872,515
66 Wyndham Clark 5 3 - T4 $846,293
67 Patrick Cantlay 8 6 - T8 $828,639
68 Brandt Snedeker 11 5 - T3 $808,403
69 Si Woo Kim 8 4 - T6 $797,916
70 Fred Couples 9 7 - T3 $766,777
71 Hunter Mahan 11 8 - T6 $759,285
72 Lucas Herbert 6 3 - T6 $743,627
73 Charl Schwartzel 15 8 - T7 $741,856
74 J.B. Holmes 10 5 - 3 $725,603
75 Stuart Appleby 13 9 - 2 $725,318
76 Chris Wood 9 5 - T3 $709,163
77 Ángel Cabrera 15 7 - T4 $708,086
78 Patrick Reed 11 7 - 10 $684,655
79 Martin Kaymer 12 9 - T7 $678,958
80 Matthew Jordan 5 3 - T10 $677,119
81 Rafa Cabrera Bello 9 6 - T4 $672,632
82 Bernhard Langer 13 8 - T3 $661,746
83 Shubhankar Sharma 4 4 - T8 $635,195
84 Dylan Frittelli 5 3 - 5 $627,195
85 Byeong Hun An 11 7 - T13 $619,812
86 Mackenzie Hughes 4 2 - T6 $589,200
87 Webb Simpson 10 8 - T12 $568,669
88 K.J. Choi 16 9 - T8 $564,173
89 Casey Jarvis 1 1 - T6 $550,883
90 José María Olazábal 9 6 - T3 $545,480
91 Branden Grace 11 8 - T6 $532,106
92 Robert Allenby 16 12 - T7 $523,374
93 Max Homa 5 4 - T10 $513,834
94 Mike Weir 12 8 - T8 $496,997
95 Dean Burmester 4 4 - T11 $493,884
96 Justin Thomas 10 7 - T11 $493,601
97 Geoff Ogilvy 12 5 - T5 $490,179
98 Keegan Bradley 13 7 - T15 $489,218
99 Daniel Brown 3 2 - T10 $482,108
100 Ludvig Aberg 3 2 - T9 $474,420

Starts are the editions we hold a result for the golfer at, paid or not. Best is the best finish in those editions, and a T is a tie.

The top twenty

Prize money at the Open Championship, 1996 to 2026

Ernie Els $5.7m Rory McIlroy $5.7m Tiger Woods $5.5m Xander Schauffele $5.0m Scottie Scheffler $4.9m Jordan Spieth $4.6m Phil Mickelson $4.2m Henrik Stenson $4.1m Brian Harman $4.0m Padraig Harrington $4.0m Sergio Garcia $3.9m Cameron Young $3.8m Ryan Fox $3.6m Adam Scott $3.5m Tommy Fleetwood $3.4m Shane Lowry $3.3m Justin Rose $3.3m Louis Oosthuizen $3.3m Lee Westwood $3.1m Zach Johnson $2.8m

The top ten took $47,573,578, 23% of the $202,957,885 we hold across 1,394 cheques here. The best paid golfer never to have won it is Sergio Garcia, 11th on the list.

Paid most per start

Golfers with five or more starts here, total over starts

The golfers with the most prize money per start at the Open Championship, among those with five or more starts.
PLAYER STARTS TOTAL PER START
Scottie Scheffler 6 $4,876,369$4.9m $812,728
Cameron Young 5 $3,790,570$3.8m $758,114
Xander Schauffele 9 $4,985,387$5.0m $553,932
Collin Morikawa 6 $2,437,275$2.4m $406,213
Brian Harman 11 $3,989,825$4.0m $362,711
Ryan Fox 10 $3,591,865$3.6m $359,187
Jordan Spieth 13 $4,576,252$4.6m $352,019
Rory McIlroy 17 $5,688,374$5.7m $334,610
Cameron Smith 9 $2,758,906$2.8m $306,545
Tommy Fleetwood 12 $3,374,300$3.4m $281,192

Padraig Harrington has the most starts here, 29, and was paid at seventeen of them for $3,951,194.

Frequently asked questions

Who has won the most prize money at the Open Championship?

Ernie Els, with $5,697,631 from nineteen paid finishes in 28 starts. Best finish a win, most recently paid here in 2019.

Who has won the most at the Open Championship without winning it?

Sergio Garcia, 11th on the list with $3,863,172. Best finish T2 in 2014.

Who has won the Open Championship the most times?

Tiger Woods, three times in the editions we hold. Across all 22 starts here that is $5,463,128, 3rd on the money list.

How many golfers have been paid at the Open Championship?

350 across the 30 editions we hold, 1,394 cheques between them. The top ten took 23% of the money.

Where to next

The same list at the tournaments either side of this one

The Open Championship prize money carries every champion and what the win paid. Open Championship prize money history restates every winner's cheque at today's prices. The Open Championship cut counts who made it each year. The all-time earners at The Genesis Invitational, PGA Championship, AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, BMW Championship, FedEx St. Jude Championship, 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, Charles Schwab Challenge, Texas Children's Houston Open, RBC Canadian Open, Valero Texas Open, World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions and Cognizant Classic in The Palm Beaches.