The PGA Champions Tour is arguably as standard as common PGA golf, as you get to see a tremendous vary of {golfing} legends nonetheless enjoying at a excessive stage and competing in opposition to one another. The tour initially began in 1980 and solely over 55s may enter, however the minimal age was later lowered to 50.
One of the crucial standard occasions of this senior tour is the U.S. Senior Open. It was established in 1980 and is held yearly at varied prestigious golf programs all through the States, with previous venues together with Broadmoor, Salem, Indianwood, Inverness Membership and Crooked Stick.
A lot of the recognition of this event stems from the truth that the prize cash is essentially the most profitable on the PGA Champions Tour. This yr, we noticed legendary golfers compete for a complete purse of $4 million, which beat the earlier highest purse on the Posco E&C Songdo Championship held in South Korea.
This yr’s competitors was incredible, and we received to see some wonderful golf from legends akin to Ernie Els, Vijay Singh and Bernhard Langer. Finally, Richard Bland took the highest prize cash and received the Open, holding out in opposition to Hiroyuki Fujita, however how a lot did every participant earn? Beneath, we check out this prestigious {golfing} event, its historical past and the way that $4 million purse was distributed.
The U.S. Senior Open – a quick introduction
The U.S. Senior Open is one among 5 main championships on the senior tour (the others being the Areas Custom, KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship, Kaulig Corporations Championship and The Senior Open Championship). It’s usually probably the most watched and hottest, along with The Senior Open Championship, which is held in Scotland.
Some fast info about this competitors embody:
- Based in 1980.
- Organized by the USA Golf Affiliation.
- Acknowledged as a significant championship.
- Minimal age of fifty for individuals.
- The occasion is open to each amateurs and professionals.
- Thus far, annually has been received by a professional.
- It’s normally held in June/July annually.
Solely seven individuals have received the U.S. Senior Open a number of instances, with Miller Barber successful it 3 times, and Gary Participant, Jack Nicklaus, Hale Irwin, Allen Doyle, Kenny Perry and Bernhard Langer every successful it twice. A number of gamers have additionally received each the U.S. Open and the U.S. Senior Open competitions, with Jack Nicklaus being one of the best instance – he received 4 U.S. Open titles and two Senior Opens.
This yr, the event was held on the legendary Newport Nation Membership in Rhode Island. That is the course that hosted the primary U.S. Open in 1895 and has hosted a number of different main tournaments since. It’s identified for its stunning clubhouse that was designed in a Beaux-Arts type.
Prize cash distribution – essentially the most profitable legends event
The U.S. Senior Open may be tough for sports activities betting followers because the type of the older gamers can fluctuate tremendously. It’s attainable to position wagers and use stay sports activities betting on the rounds, and you may normally discover a vary of props bets too, akin to particular person gamers’ last handicap and ending positions. Due to the large prize cash, the competitors is normally incredible, although, so there’s loads of alternative to snag some well-placed bets.
This yr, the full prize fund was $4 million. Certain, this will likely not appear to be a lot in comparison with the $21.5 million purse of the U.S. Open, but it surely’s at present the highest-paying event on the Champions Tour. Additionally, contemplating the unique prize cash for the inaugural 1980 competitors was $100,000 (equal to round $381,000 right this moment), issues have come a great distance!
Beneath, you’ll be able to see an entire breakdown of the prize cash distribution:
- Richard Bland – $800,000
- Hiroyuki Fujita – $432,000
- Richard Inexperienced – $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, Y.E. 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 Lengthy, Joakim Haeggman, Jay Haas, Ken Duke, Okay.J. Choi, Mario Tiziani, Justin Leonard, Greig Hutcheon – $30,441
- Phillip Value, Doug Barron, Mark Hensby, Billy Andrade, Lee Westwood, Retief Goosen, Paul Broadhurst – $20,429
- Thomas Bjorn, Katsumasa Miyamoto, Man 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 Could – $6,903
- Kenny Perry – $6,826
As you’ll be able to see, the prize cash is top-heavy, with the highest 5 spots accounting for roughly 30% of the purse. Certainly, Richard Bland walked away with a good-looking paycheque of $800,000 for the highest spot. Nonetheless, even for bottom-half finishes, you’ll be able to nonetheless pocket $6,000+ – this will’t be laughed at for enjoying a couple of rounds of golf!
Many senior gamers proceed to play at tournaments just like the U.S. Senior Open as a result of they provide nice payouts, and permit them to proceed to compete at a excessive stage {of professional} golf and benefit from the sport they love. Certainly, many professionals have excelled and earned extra enjoying within the PGA Championship Tour than they did throughout their common skilled profession!
These are the highest 10 PGA Championship golfers when it comes to prize cash received:
- 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’ll be able to see, there’s some potential for severe earnings! That is partially aided because of the nature of golf. In comparison with different, extra intense sports activities like soccer and rugby, golf places much less pressure in your physique and you may usually keep a excessive stage of play for longer. Which means that oftentimes, many professional golfers can proceed enjoying into their mid-50s and past, and nonetheless compete at tournaments like this.
Will the 2025 U.S. Senior Open have a bigger purse?
From what we will see, the prize cash for the PGA Championship competitions continues to extend. Nevertheless, the U.S. Senior Open purse seems to have stalled at $4 million. This has been the prize cash since 2017, and earlier than that, it elevated both yearly or each two years.
It is going to be attention-grabbing to see if the purse ever goes past $4 million. In the intervening time, we don’t consider it can. The one factor that might push it increased is that if different main tournaments enhance their purse to be increased than the U.S. Senior Open. This might immediate the event organizers to go one step additional and enhance it once more to maintain the distinguished title of being essentially the most profitable senior event.
Regardless, we’re excited to see the lineup for subsequent yr’s U.S. Senior Open and for extra {golfing} motion from the over 50s legends. We will additionally stay up for the opposite tournaments on the remainder of the 2024 calendar.
