2017 British Open payout: Jordan Spieth wins $1.845 million of more than $10 million purse

He gets a lot more than the Claret Jug.

Jordan Spieth won the 146th Open Championship on Sunday at Royal Birkdale. In addition to the Claret Jug and a place in the history books, he’ll get $1.845 million. That’s out of a total championship purse of $10.25 million.

For the first time ever, tournament organizer The R&A is delivering its payouts in American dollars. It’s a big change, but it makes sense for the tournament that bills itself as the most international one in golf.

“We are operating in an increasingly global marketplace and have made the decision to award the prize fund in US dollars in recognition of the fact that it is the most widely adopted currency for prize money in golf," chief executive Martin Slumbers says.

The British pound has lost lots of value over the last year, and that also might have something to do with the change. A payout in that currency this year would’ve been worth less than previously, and that wouldn’t be a great look for the R&A.

Golf championships have been in a battle for years to out-purse each other, with the notion being that a higher purse means a more prestigious tournament. Non-majors like The Players Championship have worked their way into higher and higher payouts overtime, all so they can have a seat at the table with the biggest and best events.

At The Open, as at most tournaments, the difference in payout between leaderboard slots is most dramatic at the top. The winner gets more than $800,000 more than the runner-up, but the difference between the last few golfers to make the cut is just $200. (There’s a slightly higher difference in the slots above that.)

Wherever two players tie, the average of their slots’ payouts goes to each of them. The full payout structure for the top 70 professional finishers looks like this:

1. $1,845,000

2. $1,067,000

3. $684,000

4. $532,000

5. $428,000

6. $371,000

7. $318,000

8. $268,000

9. $235,000

10. $213,000

11. $193,000

12. $172,000

13. $161,000

14. $151,000

15. $141,000

16. $129,500

17. $123,000

18. $117,000

19. $112,000

20. $107,000

21. $102,000

22. $97,000

23. $92,000

24. $87,000

25. $84,000

26. $80,000

27. $77,000

28. $74,000

29. $71,000

30. $68,000

31. $65,500

32. $62,000

33. $60,000

34. $58,000

35. $56,000

36. $53,500

37. $51,000

38. $49,000

39. $47,000

40. $45,500

41. $43,500

42. $41,500

43. $39,500

44. $37,500

45. $35,500

46. $33,500

47. $32,000

48. $30,800

49. $29,500

50. $28,900

51. $28,200

52. $27,600

53. $27,200

54. $26,800

55. $26,400

56. $26,000

57. $25,600

58. $25,500

59. $25,400

60. $25,200

61. $25,000

62. $24,900

63. $24,800

64. $24,700

65. $24,500

66. $24,400

67. $24,200

68. $24,000

69. $23,800

70. $23,600