The Open increases purse to record $17 million; following trend of professional golf

Ahead of The 152nd Open Championship at Royal Troon, the R&A announced an increase in its tournament purse.

The R&A, the governing body that organizes The Open Championship each year, announced on Monday that it had increased the purse size of this year’s Open at Royal Troon by $500,000. The overall prize fund is now $17 million, a record for golf’s oldest major.

Last year, Brian Harman took home $3 million after winning The Open at Royal Liverpool. This year’s winner will receive $3.1 million, along with the Claret Jug.

“The R&A has a responsibility to strike a balance between maintaining The Open’s position in the global game, providing the funds required for governance, and developing amateur and recreational golf in 146 countries internationally. We have to make choices if we want to continue to build on the significant growth in participation that is essential for golf’s future,” said Martin Slumbers, the CEO of the R&A.

“We remain concerned about the impact substantial increases in men’s professional prize money are having on the perception of the sport and its long-term financial sustainability. We are determined to act with the interests of the global game in mind as we pursue our goal of ensuring golf continues to thrive in 50 years’ time.”

Slumbers’ comments reference the inflated purse sizes seen across professional golf. Since LIV Golf’s rise to prominence, the PGA Tour and major championships have seen their prize funds increase substantially to combat the large sums of money received on the Saudi-backed circuit. LIV Golf has $20 million purses for its individual format and $5 million purses for its team aspect.

Hence, the PGA Tour established Signature Events, smaller-field tournaments with larger purses, to compete against LIV. The Masters, PGA Championship, U.S. Open, and The Players Championship increased their purses dramatically, too.

But all the other three majors employ prize funds larger than The Open. This year’s Masters had a $20 million purse, the PGA Championship had $18.5 million, and the U.S. Open had the largest of the four majors, boasting a $21.5 million purse. But The Players topped them all with a staggering $25 million.

Slumbers seems weary of where the game is headed regarding the massive amounts of cash flowing through the men’s professional game. It feels unsustainable, but only time will tell if that proves true.

Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.