The PGA Champions Tour is arguably as popular as regular PGA golf, as you get to see an amazing range of golfing legends still playing at a high level and competing against each other. The tour originally started in 1980 and only over 55s could enter, but the minimum age was later lowered to 50.
One of the most popular events of this senior tour is the U.S. Senior Open. It was established in 1980 and is held annually at various prestigious golf courses throughout the States, with past venues including Broadmoor, Salem, Indianwood, Inverness Club and Crooked Stick.
Much of the popularity of this tournament stems from the fact that the prize money is the most lucrative on the PGA Champions Tour. This year, we saw legendary golfers compete for a total purse of $4 million, which beat the previous highest purse at the Posco E&C Songdo Championship held in South Korea.
This year’s competition was fantastic, and we got to see some excellent golf from legends such as Ernie Els, Vijay Singh and Bernhard Langer. Ultimately, Richard Bland took the top prize money and won the Open, holding out against Hiroyuki Fujita, but how much did each player earn? Below, we take a look at this prestigious golfing tournament, its history and how that $4 million purse was distributed.
The U.S. Senior Open – a brief introduction
The U.S. Senior Open is one of five major championships on the senior tour (the others being the Regions Tradition, KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship, Kaulig Companies Championship and The Senior Open Championship). It’s typically one of the most watched and most popular, together with The Senior Open Championship, which is held in Scotland.
Some quick facts about this competition include:
- Founded in 1980.
- Organized by the United States Golf Association.
- Recognized as a major championship.
- Minimum age of 50 for participants.
- The event is open to both amateurs and professionals.
- So far, each year has been won by a pro.
- It is usually held in June/July each year.
Only seven people have won the U.S. Senior Open multiple times, with Miller Barber winning it three times, and Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Hale Irwin, Allen Doyle, Kenny Perry and Bernhard Langer each winning it twice. Several players have also won both the U.S. Open and the U.S. Senior Open competitions, with Jack Nicklaus being the best example – he won four U.S. Open titles and two Senior Opens.
This year, the tournament was held at the legendary Newport Country Club in Rhode Island. This is the course that hosted the first U.S. Open in 1895 and has hosted several other major tournaments since. It is known for its beautiful clubhouse that was designed in a Beaux-Arts style.
Prize money distribution – the most lucrative legends tournament
The U.S. Senior Open can be difficult for sports betting fans as the form of the older players can vary greatly. It’s possible to place wagers and use live sports betting on the rounds, and you can usually find a range of props bets too, such as individual players’ final handicap and finishing positions. Because of the huge prize money, the competition is usually fantastic, though, so there is plenty of opportunity to snag some well-placed bets.
This year, the total prize fund was $4 million. Sure, this may not seem like much compared to the $21.5 million purse of the U.S. Open, but it’s currently the highest-paying tournament on the Champions Tour. Also, considering the original prize money for the inaugural 1980 competition was $100,000 (equivalent to around $381,000 today), things have come a long way!
Below, you can see a complete breakdown of the prize money distribution:
- Richard Bland – $800,000
- Hiroyuki Fujita – $432,000
- Richard Green – $255,061
- Steve Striker – $178,788
- Thongchai Jaidee, Bob Estes – $140,476
- Vijay Singh – $119,039
- Ernie Els, Stephen Ames, Paul Stankowski – $97,243
- Peter Baker – $80,880
- Cameron Percy, Y.E. Yang, Steven Alker, Rocco Mediate – $67,122
- Alex Čejka, Olin Browne, Birk Nelson, Padraig Harrington, Jerry Kelly – $49,740
- Rob Labritz – $40,958
- Craig Barlow, Michael Long, Joakim Haeggman, Jay Haas, Ken Duke, K.J. Choi, Mario Tiziani, Justin Leonard, Greig Hutcheon – $30,441
- Phillip Price, Doug Barron, Mark Hensby, Billy Andrade, Lee Westwood, Retief Goosen, Paul Broadhurst – $20,429
- Thomas Bjorn, Katsumasa Miyamoto, Guy Boros, Stuart Appleby – $15,799
- Will Yanagisawa, Darren Clarke, Omar Uresti, Greg Chalmers, Brett Quigley, Bernhard Langer – $12,003
- Miguel Angel Jiménez, Kirk Triplett, Kevin Sutherland – $9,165
- Phillip Archer, Jeff Maggert, Mathew Goggin – $8,312
- Jim Furyk, Eric Axley – $8,014.50
- Michael Wright, Michael Jonzon, David Morland, Patrik Sjöland, Judd Gibb, David Branshaw, Kris Blanks – $7,669.57
- Scott Dunlap, Brian Gaffney, Michael Muehr, Jeff Martin – $7,286
- Fran Quinn – $6,979
- Bob May – $6,903
- Kenny Perry – $6,826
As you can see, the prize money is top-heavy, with the top five spots accounting for roughly 30% of the purse. Indeed, Richard Bland walked away with a handsome paycheque of $800,000 for the top spot. Still, even for bottom-half finishes, you can still pocket $6,000+ – this can’t be laughed at for playing a few rounds of golf!
Many senior players continue to play at tournaments like the U.S. Senior Open because they give great payouts, and allow them to continue to compete at a high level of professional golf and enjoy the sport they love. Indeed, many professionals have excelled and earned more playing in the PGA Championship Tour than they did during their regular professional career!
These are the top 10 PGA Championship golfers in terms of prize money won:
- Bernhard Langer – $35,964,514
- Hale Irwin – $27,158,515
- Gil Morgan – $20,631,930
- Jay Haas – $19,886,530
- Tom Kite – $16,303,747
- Tom Watson – $15,074,227
- Dana Quigley – $14,898,463
- Larry Nelson – $14,637,172
- Jim Thorpe – $13,936,083
- Tom Jenkins – $13,869,308
As you can see, there is some potential for serious earnings! This is partially aided due to the nature of golf. Compared to other, more intense sports like football and rugby, golf puts less strain on your body and you can typically maintain a high level of play for longer. This means that oftentimes, many pro golfers can continue playing into their mid-50s and beyond, and still compete at tournaments like this.
Will the 2025 U.S. Senior Open have a larger purse?
From what we can see, the prize money for the PGA Championship competitions continues to increase. However, the U.S. Senior Open purse appears to have stalled at $4 million. This has been the prize money since 2017, and before that, it increased either every year or every two years.
It will be interesting to see if the purse ever goes beyond $4 million. At the moment, we don’t believe it will. The only thing that could push it higher is if other major tournaments increase their purse to be higher than the U.S. Senior Open. This could prompt the tournament organizers to go one step further and increase it again to keep the prestigious title of being the most lucrative senior tournament.
Regardless, we are excited to see the lineup for next year’s U.S. Senior Open and for more golfing action from the over 50s legends. We can also look forward to the other tournaments on the rest of the 2024 calendar.