All eyes were on Sunday’s 2026 U.S. Open. Becoming a national champion is one of the most prestigious titles in golf, and winning the U.S. Open on a difficult course like Sinek Hills Golf Club only heightens that sense of accomplishment. In addition to the chance for players to make their mark on history on one of the country’s most iconic courses, the winner of the 126th playing of the U.S. Open will take home an even larger share of the record $22.5 million prize money.
The $4.5 million that Windham-Clark will receive for winning the course is an increase from the $200,000 that J.J. Spawn took home from Oakmont last year. Overall, the USGA increased the pool by $1 million, with the remaining $800,000 divided among all other participants.
Golf’s four major championships have seen several increases in prize money in recent years. The U.S. Open and Masters remain in the top spot at $22.5 million after a $1 million increase in 2026, while the PGA Championship increased its funding from $19 million to $20.5 million this year. The British Open Championship paid $17 million in 2025, but we’ll find out in a month if the R&A will increase that in 2026 or keep the same figure from 2024.
The beneficiaries of the major championship arms race were the players who battled it out in one of the game’s great cathedrals for a share of the $22.5 million pool. 67 professionals gathered this weekend (see them all here) Important figures not playing on Sunday) A minimum of $42,863 will be awarded to the person who splits that purse and finishes at the bottom of the professional leaderboard. All of the top 38 finishers this week earned six-figure salaries, with the top 20 all earning more than $250,000.
Below is the complete pay structure for each leaderboard position at Shinnecock Hills this weekend.
2026 US Open prize money, wallet
Total purse: $22.5 million
1st Place: $4,500,000 — Windham Clark
2nd Place: $2,430,000 — Sam Burns
3rd place: $1,532,530 — Tom Kim
4th place: $1,074,363 — Scotty Scheffler, JT Poston, Keith Mitchell ($920,882)
5th place: $894,841
6th place: $793,443
7th place: $715,320 — Tyrrell Hatton, Joaquin Niemann, Sam Stevens, Gary Woodland ($617,090)
8th place: $640,654
9th place: $579,815
10th place: $532,572
11th: $486,021 — Justin Rose, John Parry, Sahit Segala, Tommy Fleetwood, Xander Schauffele, Aaron Rai ($405,862)
12th place: $449,379
13th place: $418,729
14th place: $386,466
15th place: $358,812
16th place: $335,767
17th: $317,331 — Collin Morikawa, Justin Thomas, Ben Griffin, Akshay Bhatia, Ludwig Oberg ($280,966)
18th place: $298,895
19th place: $280,459
20th place: $262,022
21st place: $246,121
22nd place: $230,220 — Matt Fitzpatrick
23rd place: $214,780 — Ben Corles, Corey Connors, Ryder Cowan (a), Pierceson Coody, Ryan Fox, Alex Fitzpatrick, Emiliano Grillo, Benjamin James, Jackson Koibun (a) ($181,101)
24th place: $200,492
25th place: $188,048
26th place: $177,447
27th place: $169,381
28th place: $162,237
29th place: $155,324
30th: $148,410 — Keegan Bradley, Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy, Max McGreevy, Maverick McNeely, Brian Herman, Zach Blair (T32 — $128,756)
31st place: $141,497
32nd place: $134,583
33rd place: $127,669
34th place: $121,447
35th place: $116,377
36th place: $111,307
37th: $106,468 — Johnny Keefer, Miles Russell (a), Jacob Bridgman, Robert McIntyre (T39 — $101,859)
38th place: $101,859
39th place: $97,250
40th place: $92,641 — Cameron Young, Chris Gottapp, Nicklas Norgaard, Harry Higgs, Michael Kim, Ryo Hisatsune, Max Glaserman, Sungjae Im, Michael Brennan, Rory Canter (T43 — $72,592)
41st place: $88,032
42nd place: $83,423
43rd place: $78,814
44th place: $74,205
45th place: $69,596
46th place: $65,448
47th place: $61,300
48th place: $57,382
49th place: $55,077
50th place: $52,773 — Angel Hidalgo, Kurt Kitayama, Adrian Dumont de Chassard (T53 — $51,467)
51st place: $51,390
52nd place: $50,238
53rd place: $49,316 — Bud Corey, Nico Echavarria, Marek Fleming (a), Jordan Spieth, Peter Uihlein (T56 — $48,625)
54th place: $48,855
55th place: $48,394
56th place: $47,933
57th: $47,472 — Spencer Tibbits, Jackson Van Paris (T61 — $47,242)
58th place: $47,012
59th: $46,551 — Caleb Surratt, Eric Lee (a) (T63)
60th place: $46,090 — Hideki Matsuyama, William Mow, Russell Henry, Neil Shipley, Andrew Putnam, James Nicholas (T65 — $44,938)
61st place: $45,629
62nd place: $45,168
63rd place: $44,707
64th place: $44,246
65th place: $43,785
66th: $43,324 — Patrick Rogers (71st)
67th: $42,863 — Dylan Wu (72nd)
