The USGA increased its purse by $1 million for the 126th playing of the U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills


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There was plenty on the line at the 2026 U.S. Open on Sunday. Becoming a national champion is one of the most prestigious titles in golf, and winning a U.S. Open at a difficult course like Shinnecock Hills Golf Club only adds to that accomplishment. On top of the chance for players to etch their names in history at one of the country's most iconic courses, the winner of the 126th playing of the U.S. Open will take home an increased share of the record $22.5 million purse.

The $4.5 million going to Wyndham Clark for conquering the course is a $200,000 raise from what J.J. Spaun brought home from Oakmont last year. Overall, the USGA increased its pool by $1 million, with the remaining $800,000 divided among everyone else who made the cut.

There have been several purse increases in recent years at golf's four major championships. The U.S. Open and Masters remain at the top at $22.5 million after both made $1 million increases in 2026, while the PGA Championship upped its purse from $19 million to $20.5 million this year. The Open Championship paid out $17 million in 2025, and we'll find out in a month's time whether the R&A will increase it in 2026 or stick with the same number they've been at since 2024.

The benefactors of the major championship arms race are the players, who battled it out at one of the game's great cathedrals for their share of the $22.5 million pool. The 67 professionals who made the weekend (here are all of the significant names who are not playing Sunday) split that purse, with a minimum of $42,863 going to whoever finished at the bottom of the professional leaderboard. Everyone who finished inside the top 38 this week took home a six-figure paycheck, with the top 20 all making more than $250,000.

Below is the full payout structure for each leaderboard position this weekend at Shinnecock Hills.

2026 U.S. Open prize money, purse
Total purse: $22.5 million


1st: $4,500,000 -- Wyndham Clark
2nd: $2,430,000 -- Sam Burns
3rd: $1,532,530 -- Tom Kim
4th: $1,074,363 -- Scottie Scheffler, J.T. Poston, Keith Mitchell ($920,882)
5th: $894,841
6th: $793,443
7th: $715,320 -- Tyrrell Hatton, Joaquin Niemann, Sam Stevens, Gary Woodland ($617,090)
8th: $640,654
9th: $579,815
10th: $532,572
11th: $486,021 -- Justin Rose, John Parry, Sahith Theegala, Tommy Fleetwood, Xander Schaufele, Aaron Rai ($405,862)
12th: $449,379
13th: $418,729
14th: $386,466
15th: $358,812
16th: $335,767
17th: $317,331 -- Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas, Ben Griffin, Akshay Bhatia, Ludvig Åberg ($280,966)
18th: $298,895
19th: $280,459
20th: $262,022
21st: $246,121
22nd: $230,220 -- Matt Fitzpatrick
23rd: $214,780 -- Ben Kohles, Corey Conners, Ryder Cowan (a), Pierceson Coody, Ryan Fox, Alex Fitzpatrick, Emiliano Grillo, Benjamin James, Jackson Koivun (a) ($181,101)
24th: $200,492
25th: $188,048
26th: $177,447
27th: $169,381
28th: $162,237
29th: $155,324
30th: $148,410 -- Keegan Bradley, Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy, Max McGreevy, Maverick McNealy, Brian Harman, Zac Blair (T32 -- $128,756)
31st: $141,497
32nd: $134,583
33rd: $127,669
34th: $121,447
35th: $116,377
36th: $111,307
37th: $106,468 -- Johnny Keefer, Miles Russell (a), Jacob Bridgeman, Robert MacIntyre (T39 -- $101,859)
38th: $101,859
39th: $97,250
40th: $92,641 -- Cameron Young, Chris Gotterup, Niklas Norgaard, Harry Higgs, Michael Kim, Ryo Hisatsune, Max Greyserman, Sungjae Im, Michael Brennan, Laurie Canter (T43 -- $72,592)
41st: $88,032
42nd: $83,423
43rd: $78,814
44th: $74,205
45th: $69,596
46th: $65,448
47th: $61,300
48th: $57,382
49th: $55,077
50th: $52,773 -- Angel Hidalgo, Kurt Kitayama, Adrien Dumont De Chassart (T53 -- $51,467)
51st: $51,390
52nd: $50,238
53rd: $49,316 -- Bud Cauley, Nico Echavarria, Marek Fleming (a), Jordan Spieth, Peter Uihlein (T56 -- $48,625)
54th: $48,855
55th: $48,394
56th: $47,933
57th: $47,472 -- Spencer Tibbits, Jackson Van Paris (T61 -- $47,242)
58th: $47,012
59th: $46,551 -- Caleb Surratt, Eric Lee (a) (T63)
60th: $46,090 -- Hideki Matsuyama, William Mouw, Russell Henley, Neal Shipley, Andrew Putnam, James Nicholas (T65 -- $44,938)
61st: $45,629
62nd: $45,168
63rd: $44,707
64th: $44,246
65th: $43,785
66th: $43,324 -- Patrick Rodgers (71st)
67th: $42,863 -- Dylan Wu (72nd)

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