How The Prize Money Compares In The Four Men’s Golf Majors

The R&A announced that the 2024 edition of the Open Championship would feature the biggest prize fund in tournament history , with players playing for a share of $17 million, an increase of $500,000 from last year's event at Royal Liverpool.

The Champion Golfer of the year at Royal Troon will take home a cool $3.1m in addition to the Claret Jug and their name in the history books of the competition forever.

But how does the prize money compare to the other three men's Major championships?

Despite the Open Championship being the most historic of the four men's Majors, it actually has the smallest prize fund.

The 2024 Masters Tournament had a prize fund of $20m, an increase of $2m from 2023 when Spaniard Jon Rahm claimed his first ever Green Jacket.

Rahm would be placing the Green Jacket on the shoulders of Scottie Scheffler a year later as the American claimed his second Masters title and went home with the $3.6m first prize - half a million dollars more than the Open Champion earns this year.

The PGA Championship a month later had a prize fund of $18.5m, which is $1.5m more than the pot on offer at the Open Championship.

Xander Schauffele secured his first Major championship victory on a dramatic Sunday, defeating Bryson DeChambeau by a single stroke at Valhalla Country Club. Schauffele earned a healthy $3.3m, $200,000 more than the champion at Royal Troon.

The biggest purse of the four men's Majors is traditionally at the US Open and that came yet again at Pinehurst No.2 this year. Bryson DeChambeau's dramatic victory over Rory McIlroy earned him a massive $4.3m as part of an eye-watering purse of $21.5m - $4.5m more than the purse on offer at the 152nd Open Championship.

The conversation raises two questions - Should we be concerned about the rate at which golf's prize funds are increasing and should we care about how much they hand out in The Open?

Here's a breakdown of each of the four men's Major purses in 2024 and how much goes to the winner: