Purses and prize money have skyrocketed in women’s pro golf in recent years, and that trend is continuing in 2026. First, the Chevron Championship announced a big increase. Now the AIG Women’s Open is following suit.

On Tuesday, the R&A announced that at the 2026 AIG Women’s Open at Royal Lytham & St Annes, players will be competing for record purse of $10 million.

AIG Women’s Open purse has tripled in 8 years

The new AIG Women’s Open purse of $10 million is only a modest increase of $250,000 from last year’s $9.75 million total payout. But the tournament’s purse has been increasing regularly for years now, as R&A CEO Mark Darbon noted in the press release announcing the latest increase.

“This is the sixth consecutive year that the AIG Women’s Open prize fund has been increased,” said Mark Darbon. “These consistent and sustainable investments in the prize fund clearly demonstrate The R&A and AIG’s commitment to elevating the Championship on the global stage.”

When we look back to recent history, we can see just how dramatic the prize money increases have been for the LPGA.

The last time the Women’s Open was held at this year’s host course, Royal Lytham & St Annes, was in 2018. The total purse that year was just $3.25 million. That means that in just eight years the AIG Women’s Open purse has tripled in size.

Whoever wins this year’s event will take home a record winner’s share of $1.5 million.

How AIG Women’s Open purse compares to other majors

Last week, the LPGA played its first major of the season at the Chevron Championship. And they played for a lot more money than in 2025. The total 2026 Chevron Championship purse was $9 million, up $1 million from the year prior thanks to an infusion from sponsor JM Eagle.

Nelly Korda took home $1.375 million for her Chevron victory.

Just one week before at the 2026 JM Eagle LA Championship, the JM Eagle CEO announced a $1 million purse increase for that event live on TV mid-tournament.

The new $10 million purse at the AIG Women’s Open still surpasses the increased Chevron purse by $1 million. But two other majors offer even bigger purses than the Women’s Open.

Both the U.S. Women’s Open and KPMG Women’s PGA Championship sported $12 million purses last season. But the winner’s shares at those two events were different. At the Women’s PGA, winner Minjee Lee took home $1.8 million. At the 2025 U.S. Women’s Open, Maja Stark earned a whopping $2.4 million for her victory.

But all of the LPGA major winner’s payouts pale in comparison to the CME Group Tour Championship. The LPGA’s season-ending event features a $4 million winner’s share.

How do the LPGA major purses compare to men’s majors? The biggest purse at a men’s majors in 2025 was $21.5 million at the U.S. Open. The smallest men’s major purse was $17 million at the Open Championship.

Source link

We’ve reached the final round of the 2026 Sony Open in Hawaii, the first PGA Tour event of the new season. And on Sunday at Waialae Country Club, players will be fighting for their share of the huge Sony Open purse of $9.1 million. But their ultimate payout, of course, depends on where they finish on the leaderboard.

With 18 holes to play, Davis Riley has set himself apart from the pack. Riley’s 12-total through three rounds is good enough for a two-shot lead. But 54-hole leads are notoriously hard to maintain on Tour.

That means the trio of players in second — Chris Gotterup, Harry Hall and Kevin Roy — have a great shot at coming from behind to win. And whoever ends up with the victory will walk away with the $1.638 million winner’s share.

Further down the leaderboard are two three-time major champions who would make waves with a victory: Jordan Spieth and Vijay Singh.

Spieth (six under) is vying for his first Tour win since 2022. Singh (four under), who is 62 years old, is hoping to back up his incredible made cut with an historic win.

You can view a full purse breakdown for the 2026 Sony Open in Hawaii below.

2026 Sony Open payout breakdown

1st: $1,638,000
2nd: $991,900
3rd: $627,900
4th: $445,900
5th: $373,100
6th: $329,875
7th: $307,125
8th: $284,375
9th: $266,175
10th: $247,975
11th: $229,775
12th: $211,575
13th: $193,375
14th: $175,175
15th: $166,075
16th: $156,975
17th: $147,875
18th: $138,775
19th: $129,675
20th: $120,575
21st: $111,475
22nd: $102,375
23rd: $95,095
24th: $87,815
25th: $80,535
26th: $73,255
27th: $70,525
28th: $67,795
29th: $65,065
30th: $62,335
31st: $59,875
32nd: $56,875
33rd: $54,145
34th: $51,870
35th: $49,595
36th: $47,320
37th: $45,045
38th: $43,225
39th: $41,405
40th: $39,585
41st: $37,765
42nd: $35,945
43rd: $34,125
44th: $32,305
45th: $30,485
46th: $28,665
47th: $26,845
48th: $25,389
49th: $24,115
50th: $23,387
51st: $22,841
52nd: $22,295
53rd: $21,931
54th: $21,567
55th: $21,385
56th: $21,203
57th: $21,021
58th: $20,839
59th: $20,657
60th: $20,475
61st: $20,293
62nd: $20,111
63rd: $19,929
64th: $19,747
65th: $19,565
66th: $19,383
67th: $19,201
68th: $19,019
69th: $18,837
70th: $18,655
71st: $18,473
72nd: $18,291
73rd: $18,109
74th: $17,927
75th: $17,745

Source link