The 2024 U.S. Women’s Open will have a total prize purse of $12 million, up $1 million from a year ago and making it the largest women’s tournament in golf history. When you ponder this impressive fact, it’s even more remarkable to realize that just three years ago, the prize purse for this same championship was just $5.5 million.
This sharp increase is a sign that the powers that be in women’s golf recognize they need to do more to reward the best women on the game’s biggest stage. The LPGA Tour’s total prize money for 2024 is increasing from $88.9 million in 2022 to nearly $124 million, and the other four women’s majors have seen similar increases in prize money in recent years. Here’s a look.
KPMG Women’s PGA Championship: $10 million in 2023 and $4.5 million in 2021
AIG Women’s Open: $9 million in 2023 and $4.5 million in 2020
Chevron Championship: $7.9 million in 2024 and $3.1 million in 2021
The Evian Championship: $6.5 million in 2023 and $4.5 million in 2021
Yuka Sasano won the U.S. Women’s Open on Sunday at Lancaster Country Club in Pennsylvania, scoring a final-round 68 to take home a record $2.4 million. Interestingly, the USGA has decided to increase the winner’s prize money compared to other competitors, giving the champion 20 percent of the total prize money, up from 18 percent last year and the usual 15 percent on the LPGA Tour. Even if you don’t make the cut at the U.S. Women’s Open, you can still get a nice return of $10,000. This is more than double the “allowance” given to pros who leave after 36 holes compared to two years ago.
We have recorded growth in the U.S. Women’s Open so far, whole The total prize money for the U.S. Women’s Open did not exceed $10,000 until the tournament’s 20th anniversary in 1965, and it wasn’t until 1977 that the winner of a major tournament received $10,000 in prize money.
To put this year’s historic prize money behind us, let’s take a look at how championship prize money has evolved over time.
Year: Winner, total prize money, winner’s prize money
1947: Betty Jameson, $7,500, $1,200
1966: Sandra Spujic, $20,000 4,000
1975: Sandra Palmer, $55,000, $8,044
1977: Hollis Stacey, $75,000, $11,040
1978: Hollis Stacey, $100,000, $15,000
1990: Betsy King, $500,000, $85,000
1995: Annika Sorenstam, $1 million, $175,000
2000: Carrie Webb, $2.75 million, $500,000
2014: Michelle Wie, $4 million, $720,000
2017: Park Sung-hyun, $5 million, $900,000
2019: Juon Lee 6, $5.5 million, $1 million
2022: Minjee Lee, $10 million, $1.8 million
2023: Arisen Corpus, $11 million, $2 million
The breakdown of the prize pool for this year’s championship was announced on Saturday morning and can be found below, along with the final results.
Winner: Yuka Sasao, -4, $2,400,000
2: Hinako Shibuno, -1, $1,296,000
T-3: Andrea Lee, E, $664,778
T-3: Allie Ewing, E, $664,778
5: Alpchaia Ubol, +1, $456,375
T-6: Ayaka Furue, +2, $365,406
T-6: Wichanee Meechai, +2, $365,406
T-6: Ataya Titikul, +2, $365,406
T-9: Rio Takreda, +3, $271,733
T-9: Minjee Lee, +3, $271,733
T-9: Sakura Koiwai, +3, $271,733
T-12: Kim Hyo-joo, +4, $205,709
T-12: Miyu Yamashita, +4, $205,709
T-12: Lu Ning Ying, +4, $205,709
T-12: Lim Ji-hee, +4, $205,709
T-16: Hannah Green, +5, $161,841
T-16: Kim Ah Lim, +5, $161,841
T-16: Maihyun Lee, +5, $161,841
T-19: Yang Liu, +6 $125,829
T-19: Charlie Hull, +6 $125,829
T-19: Carlota Ciganda, +6 $125,829
T-19: Jenny Shin, +6 $125,829
T-19: Chisato Iwai, +6 $125,829
T-24: Jeong Ji-won, +7, $99,079
T-24: Wei-Lin Xu, +7, $99,079
T-26: Aditi Ashok, +8$86,542
T-26: Sofia Popov, +8, $86,542
T-28: Kim Min Byul, +8$86,542
T-29: Kim Jin-young, +9, $68,873
T-29: Albane Valenzuela, +9, $68,873
T-29: Pia Bubnik, +9, $68,873
T-29: Sarah Kemp, +9, $68,873
T-29: Jodie Ewart Shadoff, +9, $68,873
T-29: Janet Lin Shiyu, +9, $68,873
T-29: Kim Su-ji, +9, $68,873
T-36: Kristen Gilman, +10, $54,338
T-36: Anna Nordqvist, +10, $54,338
T-36: Amiyu Koseki, +10, $54,338
T-39: Park Hyeon-kyung, +11, $44,897
T-39: Xin Jiayi, +11, $44,897
T-39: Gaby Lopez, +11, $44,897
T-39: Yuna Nishimura, +11, $44,897
T-39: Yu Kawamoto, +11, $44,897
T-44: Megan Kang, +12, $34,495
T-44: Mariel Galdiano, +12, $34,495
T-44: Allison Lee, +12, $34,495
T-44: Asterisk Tally, +12, Amateur
T-44: Megan Schoffir, +12, Amateur
T-44: Nasa Hataoka, +12, $34,495
T-44: Katherine Park, +12, Amateur
T-51: Gabriela Rafels, +13, $26,595
T-51: Ryu Hye-rang, +13, $26,595
T-51: Daniel Kang, +13, $26,595
T-51: Yuri Yoshida, +13, $26,595
T-51: Alexandra Forsterling, +13, $26,595
T-51: Sofia Garcia, +13, $26,595
T-51: Ashley Buhai, +13, $26,595
T-58: Narin Ang, +14, $23,741
T-58: Celine Boutier, +14, $23,741
T-58: Amelia Garvey, +14, $23,741
T-58: Alana Uriel, +14, $23,741
T-58: Alexa Pano, +14, $23,741
T-58: Emily Christine Pedersen, +14, $23,741
T-58: Maude Amy Leblanc, +14, $23,741
T-58: Kim Kaufman, +14, $23,741
T-58: Jung-Eun Lee 6, +14, $23,741
T-67: Adela Chernosek, +15, Amateur
T-67: Ai Suzuki. +15, $22,566
T-69: Caroline Inglis, +16, $22,095
T-69: Madeleine Sagstrom, +16, $22,095
T-69: Marissa Steen, +16, $22,095
72: Cassandra Alexander, +17, $21,625
73: Ishi Gabsa, +19, $21,390
74: Akie Iwai, +21, $21,155
75: Cheyenne Knight, +22, $20,920