Record prize money at this year's Open

The winner of this year's 144th Open Championship will earn over £1 million for the first time ever, with there being a £900,000 increase in total tournament prize money from 2014 by Alex Clewett

The winner of this year's Open Championship will win £1,150,000, up £175,000 from last year and representing the first time the competition's winner will win over £1 million.

The R&A announced these plans ahead of the Travelers Championship which started yesterday, the first of three Open Qualifying Series events.

Peter Dawson, Chief Executive of The R&A, said, “The Open is one of the world’s pre-eminent sporting events. The Championship represents the pinnacle for the world’s greatest golfers and this increase is appropriate for an event with The Open’s global appeal.”

This year then, the top 12 golfers will receive at least £100,000 in prize money and the top 25 at least £50,000. In comparison, Jordan Spieth earned $1.8 million for his US Open and US Masters victory each, which works out as approximately £1.2 million for each.

Rory McIlroy won The Open at Royal Liverpool last year by two strokes, earning £975,000 for his exploits.

The last time the Open was at St. Andrews in 2010, Louis Oosthuizen won £850,000 for his seven shot victory, while Tiger Woods took home £720,000 in 2005. This hike in prize money thus represents a substantial increase, with all professional golfers seeing the benefits: there will be a minimum of £9,000 for making the cut and £3,000 simply for turning up.

Interestingly however, the winners of this year's Wimbledon will receive £1.88 million each, substantially more than the winner of its golfing equivalent. The pay gap between men and women in golf is further highlighted here: there will be no pay rise for the winner of this year's Women's British Open held at Turnberry earning £474, 575, less than half that of its male equivalent.

Nevertheless to put these figures in historical perspective, Nick Faldo earned £255,000 for his three Open Championships combined, while Tony Jacklin won just £5,250 back in 1970.