It was an exciting final round at the 2015 British Open on Monday with a host of players making runs at the top of the leaderboard. Several led throughout the day and for nearly all of the round, multiple players were within a stroke of the lead. In the end Zach Johnson prevailed at St. Andrews to win the Claret Jug and $1.8 million in first-place prize money from one of the most lucrative purses in golf.
2015 British Open payout: Zach Johnson wins $1.8 million in prize money
Winning the Claret Jug included a very nice payday.
Stuart Franklin/Getty Images
Marc Leishman, Louis Oosthuizen and Johnson battled for the title in a three-man playoff. Johnson ultimately prevailed to hoist the Claret Jug. The victory is the most lucrative in his career. Losing in a playoff is a brutal reminder of how close you came to winning a major championship, but the runners up will walk away with nice consolation prizes. Each player will receive more than $835,000. The win gives Johnson more than $37 million in career winnings.
The Open Championship purse increased to $10 million in 2015, up from $9.19 million last season. The move was in response to other major championships previously moving to a $10 million purse. The PGA Championship and Players Championship both increased to $10 million purses with $1.8 million going to the winner last year. The Masters and U.S. Open followed suit this year and now the British Open joined them. The result is a nice boost for the winner. Rory McIlory took home $1.66 million for his British Open win last season.
The purse wasn’t lucrative for just the winner. Ties factored heavily into the final payouts, but nine players made at least $305,000 A solo second-place finish would have been worth more than $1 million while 29 players walked away with at least $95,000. For some, the payout will be one of the biggest of their careers. For others, it’s another nice deposit in a lucrative career. Jordan Spieth entered the tournament leading the money list on the PGA Tour with $8.7 million in on-course earnings this year. He came up short of winning a third straight major, but still collected a nice $460,000 payday, finishing tied for fourth and moving his season earnings to more than $9 million. No player has topped the $10 million mark since Tiger Woods in 2009.
A total of 80 players made the cut at St. Andrews, but only 75 are eligible for a piece of the prize money. Five amateurs made the cut and are not eligible to receive a payout. Heading into Monday, it looked like Paul Dunne might have to turn down a significant amount of money. He was tied for the 54-hole lead. He faltered some on Monday, but was still one of four amateurs to finish in the top 30. Their would-be winnings will instead be divided among the rest of the field, giving the other 75 competitors a slightly larger payday.
Here is the complete look at the 2015 British Open payout:
| Place | Player | Payout |
| 1 | Zach Johnson | $1,794,690 |
| T2 | Louis Oosthuizen | $837,262 |
| T2 | Marc Leishman | $837,262 |
| T4 | Jason Day | $460,377 |
| T4 | Jordan Spieth | $460,377 |
| T6 | Danny Willett | $305,878 |
| T6 | Justin Rose | $305,878 |
| T6 | Sergio Garcia | $305,878 |
| T6 | Jordan Niebrugge | N/A (Amateur) |
| T10 | Brooks Koepka | $216,143 |
| T10 | Adam Scott | $216,143 |
| T12 | Brendon Todd | $162,107 |
| T12 | Luke Donald | $162,107 |
| T12 | Martin Kaymer | $162,107 |
| T12 | Anthony Wall | $162,107 |
| T12 | Ollie Schniederjans | N/A (Amateur) |
| T12 | Ashley Chesters | N/A (Amateur) |
| T18 | Hideki Matsuyama | $129,140 |
| T18 | Robert Streb | $129,140 |
| T20 | Branden Grace | $95,938 |
| T20 | Russell Henley | $95,938 |
| T20 | Greg Owen | $95,938 |
| T20 | Phil Mickelson | $95,938 |
| T20 | James Morrison | $95,938 |
| T20 | Marcus Fraser | $95,938 |
| T20 | Stewart Cink | $95,938 |
| T20 | Patrick Reed | $95,938 |
| T20 | Retief Goosen | $95,938 |
| T20 | Padraig Harrington | $95,938 |
| T30 | Billy Horschel | $63,075 |
| T30 | Jimmy Walker | $63,075 |
| T30 | Andy Sullivan | $63,075 |
| T30 | Anirban Lahiri | $63,075 |
| T30 | Matt Jones | $63,075 |
| T30 | Jim Furyk | $63,075 |
| T30 | Ryan Palmer | $63,075 |
| T30 | Steven Bowditch | $63,075 |
| T30 | Rickie Fowler | $63,075 |
| T30 | Paul Dunne | N/A (Amateur) |
| T40 | Scott Arnold | $43,480 |
| T40 | Francesco Molinari | $43,480 |
| T40 | Henrik Stenson | $43,480 |
| T40 | Rafael Cabrera Bello | $43,480 |
| T40 | John Senden | $43,480 |
| T40 | Geoff Ogilvy | $43,480 |
| T40 | Webb Simpson | $43,480 |
| T40 | Paul Lawrie | $43,480 |
| T40 | Marc Warren | $43,480 |
| T49 | Ryan Fox | $29,227 |
| T49 | Jamie Donaldson | $29,227 |
| T49 | David Howell | $29,227 |
| T49 | Graeme McDowell | $29,227 |
| T49 | Lee Westwood | $29,227 |
| T49 | David Duval | $29,227 |
| T49 | Hunter Mahan | $29,227 |
| T49 | Dustin Johnson | $29,227 |
| T49 | Eddie Pepperell | $29,227 |
| T58 | Cameron Tringale | $24,824 |
| T58 | Matt Kuchar | $24,824 |
| T58 | Gary Woodland | $24,824 |
| T58 | David Lipsky | $24,824 |
| T58 | Kevin Na | $24,824 |
| T58 | Jason Dufner | $24,824 |
| T58 | Greg Chalmers | $24,824 |
| T65 | Ernie Els | $23,955 |
| T65 | Thongchai Jaidee | $23,955 |
| T65 | Romain Langasque | N/A (Amateur) |
| T68 | Ross Fisher | $23,331 |
| T68 | Bernd Wiesberger | $23,331 |
| T68 | Richie Ramsay | $23,331 |
| T68 | Harris English | $23,331 |
| T68 | Graham DeLaet | $23,331 |
| T68 | Charl Schwartzel | $23,331 |
| T74 | Paul Casey | $22,551 |
| T74 | Brett Rumford | $22,551 |
| T74 | David Lingmerth | $22,551 |
| T74 | Ben Martin | $22,551 |
| T78 | Bernhard Langer | $22,082 |
| T78 | Mark O'Meara | $22,082 |
| 80 | Thomas Aiken | $21,848 |
★★★
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