The R&A, which puts on the British Open each year, announced Monday that it has increased the prize money for this year’s Royal Troon Open by $500,000, bringing the total prize money to $17 million, a record for golf’s oldest major tournament.
Last year Brian Harman won $3 million when he won the British Open at Royal Liverpool. This year’s winner will take home $3.1 million along with the Claret Jug.
“The R&A has a responsibility to strike a balance between maintaining The Open’s place in the global game, providing the funding it needs to operate and growing amateur and recreational golf in 146 countries around the world. If we want to continue to see the significant growth in participation that is essential to the future of golf, choices must be made,” said R&A CEO Martin Slumbers.
“We remain concerned about the impact that a significant increase in prize money for men’s professional golf would have on the perception and long-term financial sustainability of the sport of golf. We are determined to act with the interests of global golf in mind as we pursue our goal of ensuring that golf continues to thrive 50 years from now.”
Slumbers’ comments were a reference to the high prize money found in professional golf. Since LIV Golf rose to prominence, prize money at the PGA Tour and major championships has increased significantly to compete with the huge amounts being won on the Saudi Arabia-backed circuit. Prize money for LIV Golf individual events is $20 million, and $5 million for team events.
So the PGA Tour created Signature Events, tournaments with fewer participants but higher prize money, to compete with LIV. The Masters, PGA Championship, U.S. Open and Players Championship also saw their prize money increase significantly.
However, the other three majors all have bigger prize pools than the British Open: the Masters this year had a total prize pool of $20 million, the PGA Championship had $18.5 million, and the U.S. Open boasted the largest prize pool of the four majors at $21.5 million, but the Players Championship surpassed them with a staggering prize pool of $25 million.
Slumbers seems disgusted by where the world of football is heading with regards to the huge amounts of money flowing into men’s professional football. It seems unsustainable, but only time will tell if that’s true.
Jack Mirko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation Playing Through. Follow For more golf articles, follow us on Twitter Jack Mirko In the same way.
