US Open 2023 prize money purse: Major to have record $20m purse with increased winner’s share

The US Open 2023 is here. The third major championship of the year is set to tee off on Thursday, June 15, at the Los Angeles Country Club (LACC)’s North Course. Interestingly, the 123rd edition of the tournament will have the most money paid out in the major history.

United States Golf Association (USGA) CEO Mike Whan on Wednesday confirmed that the US Open 2023 will have the ‘largest purse in USGA history.’ According to Whan, the major championship will feature a $20 million prize purse, with a whopping $3.6 million paycheck for the winner. This will be the first time in history that a major championship purse will match the money awarded at the PGA Tour’s designated event.

Speaking about the prize money purse ahead of the US Open 2023 at the LACC, USGA CEO Mike Whan was quoted as saying by Golf Digest:

“We’ll play for the largest purse in USGA history. We’ll play for $20 million this week with the winner’s check $3.6 million.”

He added:

“I think it was November last year we budgeted $20 (million). We feel great about the purse. We feel great about the size of this event… We’re not in a chase to be the biggest check, but we want to make sure that the money and the opportunity here, whether they’re a tour player, a college player, an amateur, however they got here, that’s still part of the bigness and we believe it is.”

It is pertinent to note that the US Open 2022 had a prize purse of $17,500,000. Matt Fitzpatrick won the major and banked $3.15 million at The Country Club in Brookline, Massachusetts. Moreover, Jon Rahm had earned $2.25 million two years ago at Torrey Pines in San Diego for winning the major. The 2023 champion will bag significantly more than the past winners.

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US Open 2023 winner's perks

Apart from the hefty paycheck, the US Open 2023 champion will also earn other benefits including a 10-year exemption for the major, invitations to the next five Masters Tournaments, next five Open Championships, next five PGA Championships and the next five Players Championships.

The golfer will also land an exemption status on the PGA Tour for five years, along with the prestigious Jack Nicklaus Medal and a replica trophy to keep.

The US Open will tee off on Thursday at 9:45 am ET. It is noteworthy that Scottie Scheffler comes into the event as the favorite. He is closely followed by the Masters winner Jon Rahm and PGA Championship winner Brooks Koepka. With a staggering increase in the prize purse, it’ll be interesting to see which golfer comes out on top on Sunday at the LACC.