What You Get For Finishing 2nd At The Open

There are some brilliant perks for claiming victory at The Open, including taking custody of the famous Claret Jug for a year, $3.1m in prize money and a free pass to future editions of The Open until the age of 55.

While those benefits help ensure that winning the Major is one of the most sought-after prizes in golf, it’s not all heartache for the player who finishes runner-up at Royal Portrush. Here are some of the perks heading to the player who narrowly misses out.

Prize Money

The 2025 edition of the Major has an overall purse of $17m for the second year running. That means the winner will claim an identical sum to that handed to 2024 champion Xander Schauffele, $3.1m.

However, while that is one of the biggest payouts in the game, the player finishing second will also leave Royal Portrush significantly wealthier, thanks to a payout of $1.759m. Last year, Billy Horschel and Justin Rose shared the runner-up place, handing them $1.443m each.

Silver Salver

It will never replicate the feeling of lifting the Claret Jug, but the runner-up is presented with a silver salver, which he gets to keep.

There have been some notable winners of the silver salver in recent years, including Jordan Spieth, Tommy Fleetwood and Phil Mickelson. Lefty took the silver salver in 2016 after finishing second to Henrik Stenson. Three years earlier, the roles were reversed as Stenson had to settle for the silver salver while Mickelson won the Claret Jug.

Major Exemptions

Like the other three Majors, finishing second ensures various exemptions into the big tournaments for the following year. In the case of The Open, the runner-up (and everyone finishing in the top 10 and ties) guarantees their spot in the 2026 tournament, which will take place at Royal Birkdale. There’s also a place in the 2026 Masters for the runner-up as a top-four finisher.

World Ranking Points

World ranking points are one of the most reliable ways to qualify for Majors, and even though the winner will claim 100 points, the runner-up will earn plenty too, with 60 heading his way. For context, that’s almost as many points typically awarded to the winner of one of the PGA Tour’s prestigious Signature Events.

Season-Long Tour Points

For PGA Tour players, there's a possibility of earning prestige and big money via the FedEx Cup Playoffs, culminating in the Tour Championship, where winner Scottie Scheffler banked $25m a year ago.

Regular PGA Tour events typically offer 500 FedEx Cup points to the winner, with 700 for the victor of a Signature Event, but while the winner of The Open earns 750 points, the runner-up will claim a very handy 400.

For DP World Tour players, finishing runner-up at Royal Portrush awards 1,113 Race to Dubai ranking points, more than double the number earned by the winner of the DP World Tour’s regular Global Swing events.

Ryder Cup Ranking Points

It’s a Ryder Cup year, with the biennial battle between Team Europe and Team USA now just a couple of months away, and automatic qualifying places in each team for the Bethpage Black match are still available for eligible players.

For US players, 1.5 ranking points are awarded per $1,000 earned in a Major (rather than the more typical one point per $1,000 earned via other tournaments), meaning the runner-up will claim 2,638 points.

Points are calculated differently for European players, but a generous 5,000 points are available at The Open (compared to 1,000 offered at regular DP World Tour events). The winner will earn 835 points, with the runner-up expected to claim over 500.