The PGA Champions Tour is arguably as popular as regular PGA golf, as you get to see an incredible array of golfers who are still playing at the highest level and competing against each other. The tour started in 1980 and could enter over 55, but the minimum age was later lowered to 50.
One of the most popular events on the senior tour is the US Senior Open. It was established in 1980 and is held annually at prestigious golf courses across the United States, with past venues including Broadmoor, Salem, Indianwood, Inverness Club and Crooked Stick.
Much of the popularity of this tournament comes from the fact that the prize money is the largest on the PGA Champions Tour. This year, we saw famous golfers compete for a total prize money of $4 million, beating the previous top prize at the Posco E&C Songdo Tournament in South Korea.
This year's competition was great, and we saw some great golf from legends like Ernie Els, Vijay Singh and Bernhard Langer. In the end, Richard Bland took the top prize money and won the Open, against Hiroyuki Fujita, but how much did each player get? Below, we take a look at the prestigious golf tournament, its history and how that $4 million fund was distributed.
US Senior Open – a brief introduction
The US Senior Open is one of the five major tournaments on the senior tour (the others being the Regions Tradition, KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship, Kaulig Companies Championship and The Senior Open Championship). It is usually one of the most watched and most popular, along with the Senior Open Championship, held in Scotland.
Some quick facts about this contest include:
- It was founded in 1980.
- Organized by the United States Golf Association.
- It is considered a great competition.
- Minimum age of 50 years for participants.
- The event is open to both novices and professionals.
- Until now, every year it has been won by a professional.
- It is usually held in June/July each year.
Only seven people have won the US Senior Open more times, with Miller Barber winning it three times, and Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, Hale Irwin, Allen Doyle, Kenny Perry and Bernhard Langer winning it twice. A few players have also won the US Open and US Senior Open tournaments, Jack Nicklaus being the best example – he won four US Open titles and two Senior Opens.
This year, the tournament was held at the Newport Country Club in Rhode Island. This is the course that hosted the first US Open in 1895 and has hosted several other major tournaments since then. It is known for its beautiful clubhouse designed in the Beaux-Arts style.
Distributing prize money – the most profitable fantasy tournament
The US Senior Open can be difficult for sports betting fans as the type of senior players can vary greatly. It is possible to place wagers and use sports betting in the rounds, and you can also find a range of sports, such as the final handicap of each player and the finishing positions. Because of the large prize money, the competition is usually good, however, so there are many chances to find well-placed bets.
This year, the total prize fund was $4 million. Sure, this might not seem like much compared to the US Open's $21.5 million purse, but it's currently the highest-paying tournament on the Champions Tour. And, considering the first prize money of the first contest in 1980 was $100,000 (equivalent to about $381,000 today), things have come a long way!
Below, you can see a complete breakdown of the prize money distribution:
- Richard Bland – $800,000
- Hiroyuki Fujita – $432,000
- Richard Green – $255,061
- Steve Striker – $178,788
- Thongchai Jaidee, Bob Estes – $140,476
- Vijay Singh – $119,039
- Ernie Els, Stephen Ames, Paul Stankowski – $97,243
- Peter Baker – $80,880
- Cameron Percy, YE Yang, Steven Alker, Rocco Mediate – $67,122
- Alex Čejka, Olin Browne, Birk Nelson, Padraig Harrington, Jerry Kelly – $49,740
- Rob Labritz – $40,958
- Craig Barlow, Michael Long, Joakim Haeggman, Jay Haas, Ken Duke, KJ Choi, Mario Tiziani, Justin Leonard, Greig Hutcheon – $30,441
- Phillip Price, Doug Barron, Mark Hensby, Billy Andrade, Lee Westwood, Retief Goosen, Paul Broadhurst – $20,429
- Thomas Bjorn, Katsumasa Miyamoto, Guy Boros, Stuart Appleby – $15,799
- Will Yanagisawa, Darren Clarke, Omar Uresti, Greg Chalmers, Brett Quigley, Bernhard Langer – $12,003
- Miguel Angel Jiménez, Kirk Triplett, Kevin Sutherland – $9,165
- Phillip Archer, Jeff Maggert, Mathew Goggin – $8,312
- Jim Furyk, Eric Axley – $8,014.50
- Michael Wright, Michael Jonzon, David Morland, Patrik Sjöland, Judd Gibb, David Branshaw, Kris Blanks – $7,669.57
- Scott Dunlap, Brian Gaffney, Michael Muehr, Jeff Martin – $7,286
- Fran Quinn – $6,979
- Bob May – $6,903
- Kenny Perry – $6,826
As you can see, the prize money is very heavy, with the top five places accounting for around 30% of the purse. Indeed, Richard Bland walked away with a handsome $800,000 check for the top spot. However, even in finishing the bottom half, you can still put in $6,000+ – this is no laughing matter for playing a few rounds of golf!
Many senior players continue to play in tournaments like the US Senior Open because they pay more, and it allows them to continue to compete at the highest level of professional golf and enjoy the sport they love. Indeed, many pros have done well and gotten to play more on the PGA Championship Tour than they did during their regular professional careers!
Here are the top 10 PGA Championship golfers by money won:
- Bernhard Langer – $35,964,514
- Hale Irwin – $27,158,515
- Gil Morgan – $20,631,930
- Jay Haas – $19,886,530
- Tom Kite – $16,303,747
- Tom Watson – $15,074,227
- Dana Quigley – $14,898,463
- Larry Nelson – $14,637,172
- Jim Thorpe – $13,936,083
- Tom Jenkins – $13,869,308
As you can see, there are some serious profit opportunities! This is helped in part by the nature of golf. Compared to other, more intense sports like rugby, golf puts less stress on your body and you can maintain a high level of play for longer. This means that in many cases, many golfers can continue to play into their mid-50s and beyond, and still compete in tournaments like this one.
Will the 2025 US Senior Open have a bigger purse?
From what we can see, the prize money of the PGA Championship tournaments continues to grow. However, the US Senior Open purse appears to be standing at $4 million. This has been the prize money since 2017, and before that, it was increased every year or every two years.
It will be interesting to see if the fund ever exceeds $4 million. At the moment, we don't believe it will happen. The only thing that would push it more is if other major tournaments increase their purse to be higher than the US Senior Open. This may prompt the organizers of the tournament to go ahead and expand it again in order to retain the prestigious title of being the biggest tournament with the most money.
Regardless, we're excited to see the lineup for next year's US Senior Open and the golf games from legends over 50s. We can also look forward to the remaining tournaments in the 2024 calendar.
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