U.S. Women’s Open Closes Gap With $10M Purse

The 2022 U.S. Women’s Open at Pine Needles Lodge & Golf Club in Southern Pines, North Carolina, is setting a standard in gender pay equality. 

The four-day event will have a record $10 million purse up for grabs, a $4.5 million increase compared to last year’s tournament at The Olympic Club in San Francisco.  

Increasing the purse is a step to closing the gender pay gap, but players like Lydia Ko say “there’s still a ways to go.” 

• The men’s 2021 U.S. Open purse was $12.5 million. Winner John Rahm took home $2.3 million. 
• The 2022 Masters at Augusta National had a purse of $15 million, up from $11 million in 2021.
• The winner of this year’s U.S. Women’s Open will take home only $1.8 million. 

The boosted purse comes after the USGA and non-profit organization ProMedica agreed to a long-term partnership in January that included presenting- partner rights and elevating the U.S. Women’s Open purse. The deal also requires the purse to reach $12 million by 2026. 

Growing Popularity 

The total number of golfers worldwide has reached 66.6 million — up from 61 million five years ago. No segment has seen as much growth since the pandemic began in March 2020 than female golfers, per the National Golf Foundation.

The percentage of women on courses hit 25% in 2021, up from 19% 10 years ago. In 2021, girls made up 35%, or 1.1 million, of junior golfers, compared to 15% in 2000.