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U.S. Open 2020: You won't believe how much the prize money payout is at Winged Foot
Chris Keane
On Saturday, the USGA announced that it will once again offer the biggest prize money payout of any major championship. The purse for the 2020 U.S. Open would hold steady from a year ago, with $12.5 million up for grabs and 2020 winner Bryson DeChambeau earning $2.25 million for his impressive showing at Winged Foot. This keeps the USGA’s marquee event ahead of the other three majors in terms of big-money paydays, with the Masters offering $11.5 million, PGA Championship paying $11 million and the Open Championship awarding $10.5 million.
It’s not, however, until you break down the amount of money doled out for all the spots in the field (see below) that the largesse comes into full focus. Simply consider how much some notable past U.S. Open champions made when they won their titles and then look at what the players will be taking in this week, and the disparity is striking.
When Horace Rawlins won the inaugural championship in 1895, he claimed $150. Last place on Sunday will earn, $21,229, or 141 times what Rawlins made.
Since World War II, here’s how much some of the notable winners have earned for their victories:
1950: Ben Hogan at Merion, $4,000
1960: Arnold Palmer at Cherry Hills, $14,400
1973: Johnny Miller at Oakmont, $35,000
1982: Tom Watson at Pebble Beach, $60,000
1992: Tom Kite at Pebble Beach, $275,000
2000: Tiger Woods at Pebble Beach, $800,000
2010: Graeme McDowell at Pebble Beach, $1.35 million
2016: Dustin Johnson at Oakmont, $1.8 million
And how about what past champions at Winged Foot have earned? Here is the prize money payout to the winner in the previous five U.S. Opens played on the West course.
1929: Bobby Jones, Amateur (first-place money was $1,000, total purse: $5,000)
1959: Billy Casper, $12,000 (total purse: $48,000)
1974: Hale Irwin, $35,000 (total purse: $223,900)
1984: Fuzzy Zoeller, $94,000 (total purse: $596,325)
2006: Geoff Ogilvy, $1.225 million (total purse $6.8 million)
Bobby Jones accepts the U.S. Open trophy after his playoff victory at Winged Foot in 1929.
Bettmann
Lastly, consider the career U.S. Open earnings of some of the game’s all-time greats. Jack Nicklaus, in 44 U.S. Open starts, made $363,955, slightly more than the player who finishes in eighth place will earn just this week. Arnold Palmer, in 32 U.S. Open starts, made $112,119.50. Finish 24th on Sunday, and you’ve made more. Ben Hogan’s career U.S. Open earnings ($32,651.66) get beat by the 47th-place finisher.
Long story short: They played for a lot of loot this weekend. And here is how much everybody who made the cut earned:
Win: Bryson DeChambeau, 274/-6, $2,250,000
2: Matthew Wolff, 280/E, $1,350,000
3: Louis Oosthuizen, 282/+2, $859,812
4: Harris English, 283/+3, $602,752
5: Xander Schauffele, 284/+4, $502,035
T-6: Dustin Johnson, 285/+5, $424,040
T-6: Will Zalatoris, 285/+5, $424,040
T-8: Tony Finau, 286/+6, $302,236
T-8: Zach Johnson, 286/+6, $302,236
T-8: Rory McIlroy, 286/+6, $302,236
T-8: Webb Simpson, 286/+6, $302,236
T-8: Justin Thomas, 286/+6, $302,236
T-13: Viktor Hovland, 287/+7, $210,757
T-13: Adam Long, 287/+7, $210,757
T-13: Patrick Reed, 287/+7, $210,757
T-13: Lee Westwood, 287/+7, $210,757
T-17: Paul Casey, 288/+8, $157,931
T-17: Lucas Glover, 288/+8, $157,931
T-17: Jason Kokrak, 288/+8, $157,931
T-17: Hideki Matsuyama, 288/+8, $157,931
T-17: Alex Noren, 288/+8, $157,931
22: Sungjae Im, 289/+9, $129,407
T-23: Rafa Cabrera Bello, 290/+10, $101,797
T-23: Joaquin Niemann, 290/+10, $101,797
T-23: Taylor Pendrith, 290/+10, $101,797
T-23: Thomas Pieters, 290/+10, $101,797
T-23: Jon Rahm, 290/+10, $101,797
T-23: Brendon Todd, 290/+10, $101,797
T-23: Erik van Rooyen, 290/+10, $101,797
30: Charles Howell III, 291/+11, $83,422
T-31: Lucas Herbert, 292/+12, $75,649
T-31: Renato Paratore, 292/+12, $75,649
T-31: Bubba Watson, 292/+12, $75,649
T-34: Daniel Berger, 293/+13, $64,024
T-34: Tyler Duncan, 293/+13, $64,024
T-34: Stephan Jaeger, 293/+13, $64,024
T34: Romain Langasque, 293/+13, $64,024
T-38: Jason Day, 294/+14, $52,074
T-38: Brian Harman, 294/+14, $52,074
T-38: Billy Horschel, 294/+14, $52,074
T-38: Adam Scott, 294/+14, $52,074
T-38: Cameron Smith, 294/+14, $52,074
T-43: Patrick Cantlay, 295/+15, $39,275
T-43: Lanto Griffin, 295/+15, $39,275
T-43: Shane Lowry, 295/+15, $39,275
T-43: Matt Wallace, 295/+15, $39,275
T-43: Bernd Wiesberger, 295/+15, $39,275
48: Michael Thompson, 296/+16, $32,254
T-49: Thomas Detry, 297/+17, $30,312
T-49: Rickie Fowler, 297/+17, $30,312
T-51: Chesson Hadley, 298/+18, $28,563
T-51: Ryo Ishikawa, 298/+18, $28,563
T-51: John Pak, 298/+18, Amateur
54: Adam Hadwin, 299/+19, $27,720
55: Christiaan Bezuidenhout, 300/+20, $27,461
T-56: Abraham Ancer, 301/+21, $27,073
T-56: Robert MacIntyre, 301/+21, $27,073
58: Troy Merritt, 302/+22, $26,684
T-59: Sebastián Muñoz, 304/+24, $26,296
T-59: Rory Sabbatini, 304/+24, $26,296
61: Shugo Imahira, 305/+25, $25,901
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