The US Women's Open offered a massive $12 million prize purse this year. While it doesn't quite compare to what men's Majors have, this tournament is still one of the most lucrative in all of golf across all tours. The winner could take home an excellent paycheck of $2.4 million.
That winner ended up being Yuka Saso. It was a difficult outing for a lot of golfers as the venue proved challenging and most were above par for the entire outing. Nevertheless, Saso prevailed against all the odds.
She came in trailing and ultimately swapped places with Andrea Lee in a back-and-forth final round. Thanks to a solid performance, Saso was able to climb the leaderboard and win her second US Women's Open title.
Did Nelly Korda earn any of the US Women's Open prize purse?
Nelly Korda was the betting favorite before the US Women's Open, and it wasn't particularly close. But after a stunning first round, Korda never rebounded and exited the competition after day two. She was 10 over after round one and was even on round two.
That means that none of the $12 million prize purse went to her. She had the chance to continue her epic earning streak in 2024, but it all came crashing down thanks to an unexpected opening round.
Korda did get a paycheck as she participated, but the prize purse is doled out to all who made the cut, which she didn't.
The American said via CNN about the disastrous tournament:
“I just didn’t really want to shoot 80, and I just kept making bogeys. I’m human. I’m going to have bad days. I played some really solid golf up to this point. Today was just a bad day. That’s all I can say.”
She continued:
“Not a lot of positive thoughts, honestly. I didn’t hit it good. I found myself in the rough a lot. Making a 10 on a par-3 will definitely not do you any good at a US Open.”
Nelly Korda has looked entirely superhuman this year so far. She has won six of eight starts and was lapping the competition on most metrics.