What You Get For Finishing 2nd At The US Open

Like the other three Majors, the US Open is not stingy when it comes to offering potentially life-changing perks for the winner.

For example, at the 2025 edition the winner will receive prize money of $4.3m as well as a guaranteed place for the next 10 years, along with a string of additional bonuses.

It’s not all bad news for the player who finishes second, though, with the star who narrowly misses out on the title still able to look back on a job well done with some brilliant perks to prove it.

Here is what the player finishing runner-up at Oakmont will receive.

Prize Money

While the champion will collect one of the biggest prizes ever awarded in golf, $4.3m, the runner-up will hardly be contemplating a financial struggle as he heads away from Oakmont. That’s thanks to prize money of $2.322m, more than the winner makes at many PGA Tour events.

Silver Medal

The winner receives the Jack Nicklaus medal, while the low amateur is handed a gold medal, too, but there's also some impressive hardware for the runner-up in the form of a silver medal - a worthwhile memento for coming so close in a tournament that had over 10,000 entrants.

Major Exemptions

Unlike the winner, the runner-up won’t have the luxury of knowing they have a place in the US Open for the next 10 years, but there are still some significant Major-related perks heading his way.

Crucially, the player finishing second doesn’t need to worry about how to make it to next year's event, with a place in the US Open at Shinnecock Hills assured for the top 10 and ties. It doesn’t end there, though. The runner-up also makes it to the following year’s Masters at Augusta National, along with everyone who finishes in the top four and ties.

World Ranking Points

When it comes to collecting world ranking points, it doesn’t get any better than the four Majors, with 100 available for the winner in each of the big events. That’s 20 more than the PGA Tour’s flagship event, The Players Championship, and around 35 more than a typical PGA Tour signature event.

However, the runner-up will either significantly improve his world ranking or solidify it thanks to the 60 points awarded at the US Open. That’s potentially a big deal because world ranking is one of the best ways to qualify for future Majors, while it also influences other factors, including qualification for signature events.

Season-Long Tour Points

PGA Tour players earn points in season-long FedEx Cup standings for the chance to reach the Playoffs. One of the best ways to climb the standings is to win a Major, which awards 750 points, although finishing second gives a welcome boost too, with 400 points awarded. That's just 100 fewer than the winners of regular PGA Tour events.

For players on the DP World Tour, finishing runner-up at Oakmont awards 1,113 Race to Dubai ranking points, more than double the haul handed to the winner of the DP World Tour’s regular Global Swing events.

Ryder Cup Ranking Points

While the chance to make it to September’s Ryder Cup is only a concern to US and European players, if the runner-up comes from one of those regions, he’ll go a long way to securing a place on the team.

For US players, 1.5 ranking points are awarded per $1,000 earned in a Major (rather than the more typical 1 point per $1,000 earned via other tournaments), meaning the runner-up will claim 3,498 points. Ahead of the US Open, Russell Henley held the sixth automatic qualifying spot, on 8677.8 points.

There’s a different system for Europeans, but finishing runner-up in the US Open is valuable too, with 555 of the 5,000 ranking points available at the tournament going to the runner-up. Before the Oakmont Major, Tommy Fleetwood was in the sixth automatic qualifying spot, on 976.43 points.