The Senior Open Championship Prize Money Payout 2026: How Much Does The Major Winner Earn?

Hot on the heels of The Open at Royal Birkdale, the 2026 Senior Open Championship has been contested on Gleneagles' King's Course in Scotland

Padraig Harrington with the Senior Open trophy
(Image credit: Getty Images)

The final senior Major of the year is almost at an end and several legends of the game are battling it out for yet another trophy to add to their respective cabinets.

Despite being over 50 years old, the desire to win has not wavered for any of those still competing at Gleneagles' famous King's Course in Scotland this weekend.

And their urge to come out on top will remain until the final putt drops on Sunday with another $2.85 million tournament purse on the line.

As far as the Majors go, The Senior Open offers the second smallest. However, there's still almost $450,000 heading the way of the winner.

In addition, each of the top five could theoretically walk away with a six-figure payout while a top-10 result could be good enough for upwards of $50,000.

This one is not about the money, though, as it's still one of the most prestigious titles available in the world of seniors golf.

Padraig Harrington was victorious last year, defeating Justin Leonard and co. by three strokes at Sunningdale Old Course to wrap up an Open Championship double on both sides of the Atlantic.

The Irishman, who successfully defended his US Senior Open crown earlier this year, is in final form once again but will not go back-to-back on British shores. Instead, American Jerry Kelly appears best placed to triumph.

Until we find out for certain who will win, below is the maximum prize money payout for each position at The Senior Open before ties are taken into account and based on 75 players making the cut.

The Senior Open Prize Money Breakdown

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Position

Prize Money

1st

$447,800

2nd

$298,680

3rd

$168,036

4th

$134,292

5th

$113,772

6th

$93,936

7th

$80,484

8th

$67,032

9th

$60,192

10th

$53,694

11th

$49,362

12th

$45,942

13th

$42,978

14th

$41,154

15th

$39,444

16th

$37,620

17th

$25,910

18th

$34,542

19th

$33,402

20th

$32,490

21st

$31,578

22nd

$30,666

23rd

$29,754

24th

$28,842

25th

$27,930

26th

$27,018

27th

$26,106

28th

$25,194

29th

$24,396

30th

$23,598

31st

$22,800

32nd

$22,002

33rd

$21,318

34th

$20,634

35th

$20,064

36th

$19,494

37th

$18,924

38th

$18,354

39th

$17,898

40th

$17,328

41st

$16,872

42nd

$16,302

43rd

$15,846

44th

$15,276

45th

$14,820

46th

$14,364

47th

$13,794

48th

$13,338

49th

$12,768

50th

$12,312

51st

$11,742

52nd

$11,286

53rd

$10,716

54th

$10,260

55th

$9,690

56th

$9,234

57th

$8,778

58th

$8,436

59th

$7,980

60th

$7,638

61st

$7,296

62nd

$6,954

63rd

$6,726

64th

$6,384

65th

$6,156

66th

$5,814

67th

$5,586

68th

$5,358

69th

$5,130

70th

$4,901

71st

$4,674

72nd

$4,446

73rd

$4,218

74th

$3,990

75th

$3,672

Jonny Leighfield
News Writer

Jonny Leighfield is our Staff News Writer who joined Golf Monthly just in time for the 2023 Solheim Cup and Ryder Cup. He graduated from the University of Brighton with a degree in Sport Journalism in 2017 and spent almost five years as the sole sports reporter at his local newspaper. During his time with Golf Monthly, Jonny has interviewed several stars of the game, including Robert MacIntyre, Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood, and Joaquin Niemann. An improving golfer himself, Jonny enjoys learning as much about the game as he can and recently reached his Handicap goal of 18 for the first time.

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