The Open Championship Prize Money Payout 2026: How Much Did Ryan Fox Win At Royal Birkdale?

New Zealand’s Ryan Fox birdied the 72nd hole at Royal Birkdale to win The Open Championship by a single stroke on Sunday.

The 39-year-old posted a closing 68 to reach 10-under and hold off a resurgent Cameron Young by the barest of margins, consequently claiming his maiden Major title in the process.

Fox, who has clinched two PGA Tour titles, four DP World Tour trophies and earned more than $23 million in prize money throughout his career, was seemingly down and out early on in the back nine before rolling home four gains across his final six holes.

Despite a desperately unlucky bogey at the par-3 15th, Fox rallied via a birdie-par-birdie finish to etch his name onto the Claret Jug forever.

But that’s not all. Even though The Open prize money purse will sit far below that of its three peers in 2026, there is still an eye-watering payout on offer.

The Masters and US Open both offered a total of $22.5 million to the field this year while the PGA Championship nudged north of $20 million as well.

In a comfortable fourth place is The Open with a grand total of $17.75 million. But that’s actually up $750,000 from last year.

Nevertheless, Fox will collect $3.2 million (roughly £2.4 million), which is $100,000 (£74,600) more than Scottie Scheffler picked up at Royal Portrush in 2025. Even so, there are a couple of very good reasons why the Open champion’s take-home pay will be significantly less than the aforementioned number.

Aside from the prize money, there are plenty of other perks for winning The Open that Fox will now enjoy.

For those who fell just short, including Young, Sam Burns, Tommy Fleetwood and Scottie Scheffler, there are still massive checks heading their way over the coming days.

Remarkably, each of the top-three positions offer more than $1 million while everyone who finished T28th or better will scoop at least $102,817 – that is before various factors such as taxes reduce how much every pro golfer really earns.

Any professional who made the cut at Royal Birkdale is guaranteed to claim $39,700 while the leading 10 pros and ties who missed the cut will take away $12,900 (£9,600).

The next 20 leading pros (and ties) will earn $10,750 (£8,000) each and the remaining pros who qualified for The Open but languished down at the bottom of the leaderboard will clinch $9,100 ($6,800).

Below is the full prize money breakdown for The 154th Open Championship at Royal Birkdale.

THE OPEN PRIZE MONEY BREAKDOWN 2026