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GOLF · THE CUT · 2026

The Open Championship cut and the last cheque

We hold 126 players at the 2026 Open Championship. 72 made the cut and were paid off the finishing ladder, from the $3,200,000 the winner took down to the $39,700 Jesper Svensson collected for 78th. 53 missed the cut, and the ladder stops above them.

MADE THE CUT 72 of 126 held
MISSED THE CUT 53
LAST CHEQUE $39,700
SHARE PAID 57% 28th lowest of 66

Every Open Championship cut we hold

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

2,451 results held
Every Open Championship edition held here, with the players we hold, how many the ladder paid, how many missed the cut, the share paid, and what the last place and the median place on the ladder were worth.
YEAR HELD PAID MISSED CUT SHARE PAID LAST CHEQUE MEDIAN CHEQUE
2026 126 72 53 57% $39,700 $102,817
2025 133 69 64 52% $38,900 $86,517
2024 133 72 57 54% $38,275 $90,220
2023 134 73 60 54% $37,175 $84,113
2022 128 71 53 55% $31,200 $68,906
2021 111 63 46 57% $25,938 $60,143
2019 111 61 50 55% $24,625 $56,278
2018 117 68 49 58% $23,175 $53,750
2017 110 64 46 58% $22,975 $45,286
2016 115 65 49 57% $18,331 $37,091
2015 111 67 41 60% $21,848 $63,075
2014 107 57 50 53% $20,844 $46,271
2013 100 59 38 59% $16,795 $39,251
2012 90 59 31 66% $15,933 $40,615
2011 90 43 44 48% $19,200 $47,134
2010 85 51 34 60% $16,051 $48,000
2009 78 44 33 56% $15,303 $43,026
2008 63 35 26 56% $16,987 $50,034
2007 69 40 28 58% $20,258 $57,952
2006 62 36 25 58% $16,917 $59,929
2005 57 31 24 54% $14,806 $38,548
2004 47 27 20 57% $16,760 $60,391
2003 51 29 21 57% $13,432 $29,849
2002 42 23 19 55% $11,377 $37,925
2001 38 23 15 61% $12,159 $30,756
2000 34 23 11 68% $10,970 $38,717
1999 33 17 15 52% $9,491 $23,903
1998 30 17 11 57% $8,719 $11,285
1997 24 22 2 92% $9,425 $20,829
1996 22 13 7 59% $7,363 $18,406

Held is every player we hold a result for at that edition. Paid is the players the finishing ladder paid, and missed cut is the players whose week ended at the cut. Where the two do not add up to the held count, the rest withdrew, were disqualified or finished without a cheque.

How many the ladder paid

Players paid at each edition, 2006 to 2026

What the last place paid was worth

The smallest cheque on the ladder, 2006 to 2026

In 2026 the winner took 81 times what the last player paid took. The median player on the ladder took $102,817, which is where the middle of a paid field sits: much nearer the bottom cheque than the top one.

Missed the cut here most often

Across the 30 editions we hold

The players with the most missed cuts at the Open Championship, with their starts and the cuts they made.
PLAYER STARTS MADE MISSED
John Daly 22 6 15
Padraig Harrington 29 17 12
Stewart Cink 27 16 11
Justin Leonard 22 11 11
Tom Lehman 22 11 11
Ernie Els 28 19 8
Phil Mickelson 28 20 8
Louis Oosthuizen 18 9 8
Ángel Cabrera 15 7 8
Justin Rose 24 15 7
Jim Furyk 22 15 7
Ian Poulter 20 13 7
Zach Johnson 20 13 7
Francesco Molinari 18 11 7
K.J. Choi 16 9 7

Never missed the cut here

Players paid at every edition they started, three or more times

The players who have made the cut at every Open Championship they started, with at least three starts.
PLAYER CUTS MADE
Xander Schauffele 9
Robert MacIntyre 6
Scottie Scheffler 6
Thomas Pieters 6
Andres Romero 5
Dean Burmester 4
Greg Chalmers 4
Shubhankar Sharma 4
Thomas Detry 4
Thriston Lawrence 4

Frequently asked questions

How many players made the cut at the 2026 Open Championship?

72 of the 126 players we hold made the cut and were paid, and 53 missed it. The other one withdrew, were disqualified or finished without a cheque.

What does the last player to make the cut at the Open Championship win?

In 2026 the last place on the ladder was 78th, and Jesper Svensson took $39,700. The winner's cheque was 81 times that.

What share of players make the cut at the Open Championship?

Across the 30 editions we hold, 57% of the players were paid off the ladder: 1,394 of 2,451. That is the 28th lowest share of the 66 tournaments we hold.

Who has missed the cut at the Open Championship most often?

John Daly, fifteen times in 22 starts we hold, ahead of Padraig Harrington on twelve.

Where to next

The cut at the tournaments either side of this one

The Open Championship prize money carries every champion and what the win paid, the Open Championship all-time earners ranks every golfer it has paid, and the cut at every golf tournament ranks all 66 by the share of players the ladder pays. The twenty closest to this one on that order: Valero Texas Open, Travelers Championship, AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Texas Children's Houston Open, Buick Challenge, Michelob Championship at Kingsmill, Shriners Children's Open, BellSouth Classic, Truist Championship, Sanderson Farms Championship, Barracuda Championship, WM Phoenix Open, ISCO Championship, Sony Open in Hawaii, Buick Open, PGA Championship, The Genesis Invitational, World Wide Technology Championship, Kemper Open and Corales Puntacana Championship.