This summer’s Women’s Open will celebrate its 50th anniversary with players competing for a record purse of $10 million, The R&A announced Tuesday.
Although the increase is a relatively modest $250,000 from last year, it marks a consistent trend in prize increases in recent years for the major championship.
“This is the sixth consecutive year that the AIG Women’s Open prize fund has been increased,” said R&A CEO 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.”
Starting with the inaugural Women’s British Open in 1976 when the total prize fund stood at 500 euros, the event has seen steady prize increases over the years, particularly over the past two decades.
By 2008, when the championship was last held at Sunningdale — announced Tuesday as the venue for the 2028 event — the purse was at $2.1 million.
Ten years later, the last time the Women’s Open was held at England’s Royal Lytham & St Annes — the site of this year’s event from July 29 to Aug. 2 — the total purse was just $3.25 million, meaning this year’s $10 million purse is triple that of just eight years ago.
The Women’s Open is now the third LPGA major to hit the $10 million mark in prize money, joining the U.S. Women’s Open and Women’s PGA which each have a $12 million purse.
This past weekend, the Chevron Championship came close to that mark, bumping its purse up by $1 million just two days before the opening round to a record $9 million, with Nelly Korda claiming the $1.35 million top prize.
Broadcast coverage of the Women’s Open will also be increasing to 34 hours across four days.
“The AIG Women’s Open reflects our commitment to advancing women in business, sports and society, which is core to AIG’s values,” Peter Zaffino, AIG chairman and CEO, said Tuesday. “In partnership with The R&A, we are making important strides in elevating the women’s game by continuing to increase the Championship purse and extending live broadcast coverage that will reach an even wider global audience of fans.”
–Field Level Media
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