Biggest prize money spike in Open history

The winner of this year’s Open will receive an eye-watering $1.845m in the biggest spike in prize money in the championship’s history.

For the first time, the winner will receive their winnings in dollars, with $1.845m the equivalent of £1.428m – up from the £1.175m that Henrik Stenson took home at Royal Troon last year.

That prize money hike to the equivalent of £253,000 is the biggest in the championship’s history, eclipsing the rise of £175,000 from the 2014 to 2015 Opens when it eclipsed the £1m mark for the first time.

Martin Slumbers, chief executive of the R&A, said: “We are operating in an increasingly global marketplace and have made the decision to award the prize fund in US dollars in recognition of the fact that it is the most widely adopted currency for prize money in golf.”

The winnings almost doubles the £750,000 that Padraig Harrington raked in the last time the Open was held at Royal Birkdale in 2008 and is almost five times the amount Mark O’Meara pocketed (£300,000) at the Southport links ten years earlier in 2008.

However, despite the rise in prize money and a total prize fund of $10.25m, the Open compares unfavourably to the game’s other three majors.

This year, the Masters winner Sergio Garcia took home $1.98m, Brooks Koepka earned $2.16m for his US Open win, while the PGA Championship’s fund has been set at $1.89m.