The PGA Champions Tour is arguably as widespread as common PGA golf, as you get to see a tremendous vary of {golfing} legends nonetheless taking part in at a excessive degree 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 widespread 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 probably 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 implausible, and we bought to see some wonderful golf from legends reminiscent of Ernie Els, Vijay Singh and Bernhard Langer. Finally, Richard Bland took the highest prize cash and gained the Open, holding out in opposition to Hiroyuki Fujita, however how a lot did every participant earn? Under, 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 short introduction
The U.S. Senior Open is one in all 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 sometimes one of the vital 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 america Golf Affiliation.
- Acknowledged as a significant championship.
- Minimal age of fifty for members.
- The occasion is open to each amateurs and professionals.
- To this point, annually has been gained by a professional.
- It’s normally held in June/July annually.
Solely seven individuals have gained the U.S. Senior Open a number of instances, with Miller Barber profitable it thrice, and Gary Participant, Jack Nicklaus, Hale Irwin, Allen Doyle, Kenny Perry and Bernhard Langer every profitable it twice. A number of gamers have additionally gained each the U.S. Open and the U.S. Senior Open competitions, with Jack Nicklaus being the perfect instance – he gained 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 recognized for its lovely clubhouse that was designed in a Beaux-Arts type.
Prize cash distribution – probably the most profitable legends event
The U.S. Senior Open might be tough for sports activities betting followers because the type of the older gamers can fluctuate tremendously. It’s doable to position wagers and use reside sports activities betting on the rounds, and you’ll normally discover a vary of props bets too, reminiscent of particular person gamers’ closing handicap and ending positions. Due to the large prize cash, the competitors is normally implausible, although, so there may be loads of alternative to snag some well-placed bets.
This yr, the entire prize fund was $4 million. Positive, this will likely not seem to be a lot in comparison with the $21.5 million purse of the U.S. Open, however it’s at the moment 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 at the moment), issues have come a good distance!
Under, you may 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 may 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 may nonetheless pocket $6,000+ – this will’t be laughed at for enjoying just a few 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 degree {of professional} golf and benefit from the sport they love. Certainly, many professionals have excelled and earned extra taking part in within the PGA Championship Tour than they did throughout their common skilled profession!
These are the highest 10 PGA Championship golfers by way of prize cash gained:
- 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 may see, there may be some potential for critical earnings! That is partially aided as a result of 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’ll sometimes preserve a excessive degree of play for longer. Because of this oftentimes, many professional golfers can proceed taking part in 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 fascinating to see if the purse ever goes past $4 million. In the intervening time, we don’t imagine it would. The one factor that would push it greater is that if different main tournaments enhance their purse to be greater 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 probably 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 are able to additionally sit up for the opposite tournaments on the remainder of the 2024 calendar.
