The jump in the prize money payout from the last time the Women’s British Open was at St. Andrews will shock you
In 2013, the last time the AIG Womenâs Open was played at St. Andrews, Stacy Lewis cashed a first-place prize money payout of $402,583 for her victory out of a total purse of $2.75 million. Come Sunday, when a new champion photographed on the Swilcan Bridge, there will be 3½ times that much on the line.
The R&A announced on Wednesday that the prize money payout at this weekâs event will be a record $9.5 million with the winner earning $1.425 million. The total purse is up $500,000 from 2023 and almost double the amount offered just three years ago.
Part of the increase can be ascribed to the overall rise in paydays for womenâs professional golf events on the LPGA Tour, and in particularly the five womenâs majors, which have each had their purses jump past $7.9 million in the last year.
Here’s the payday in the other four womenâs majors:
U.S. Womenâs Open: $12 million/$2.4 million
KPMG Womenâs PGA: $10.4 million/$1.56 million
Amundi Evian: $8 million/$1.2 million
Chevron: $7.9 million/$1.2 million
But the increase at the Womenâs British Open can also be linked to the R&A taking over the operation of the event from the Ladies Golf Union in 2017, AIG coming on board in 2019 and an influx of money and resources both internal and external following both.
âWith the outstanding backing we have received from AIG as our title sponsor we have been able to achieve a step change and take this championship to new levels,â said Martin Slumbers, the outgoing R&A CEO who is set to step down from his post later this year. âThe increased prize fund and our enhancements to the staging and the spectator experience this year reflect our shared commitment to making the AIG Womenâs Open a world class championship for players and fans alike.â
During last monthâs Open Championship at Royal Troon, outgoing R&A CEO Martin Slumbers lamented the rising purses in the menâs professional game, worrying about the downstream effect they will have in taking away resources that could be used in other ways to grow the sport overall. But thatâs not quite the concern here.
âI think the men’s game and the women’s game are in two completely different places,â Slumbers said during a pre-championship press conference on Wednesday. âBut for the women’s game, the issues that we’re trying to really think about and focus on is how do we push it forward and elevate its profile? How do we take it to the great courses? How do we give them the opportunities to show how good they are and not really get caught up in all the difficulties that have been going on in the game.â
In that sense, the increase in the purse size is an investment in the growth of womenâs golf overall, something heâs comfortable with.
