Winning the 2026 U.S. Open at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club comes with many perks. The iconic U.S. Open trophy of course goes to the winner, but a slew of exemptions and other benefits also await the player that comes out on top. Below is a list of exemptions this week’s winner will take home.
2026 U.S. Open Winner Exemptions
- Exemption to the U.S. Open for the next ten years
- Invitation to the Masters Tournament for the next five years.
- Invitation to the Open Championship for the next five years.
- Invitation to the PGA Championship for the next five years.
- Invitation to the Player’s Championship for the next five years.
- Exempt status on the PGA Tour for five years
The winner will also take home 600 FedEx Cup points, which will almost certainly get them into the Tour Championship at the end of the season at East Lake Golf Club.
Of course this is professional golf, so there is a substantial prize purse that goes along with one of golf’s largest and most historic tournaments. 2025 champion, JJ Spaun, took home $4.3 million dollars for the winner’s check at Oakmont. The United States Golf Association has increased the prize pool for 2026 by $1 million. This means that the 2026 champion will receive $4.5 million, while the USGA’s flagship championship will have a total prize purse of $22.5 million this week at Shinnecock Hills Golf Club.
“We’ll play for a purse of $22,500,000, which means the winner will receive $4.5 million,” USGA CEO Mike Whan said on Wednesday. “Last time we were here was 2018. The purse was $12 million. We’re back in 2026 with a purse of $22.5 million. We’re proud of keeping that pace as well.”
The increase in purse to $22.5 million now matches it with the Masters Tournament for the game’s largest prize pool. Whan was asked about whether keeping pace with the Masters was a priority for the U.S. Open.
“Yeah, some of that’s just personal pride. We want to be big. We want to be the best. We want to make sure it’s life-changing in multiple ways,” Whan said. “We also are not in a race. We’re not chasing. … We’re proud of where we are. I couldn’t tell you, and until I get some truth serum in here, how much farther we go in the years to come, but we think it’s a measure of how we feel about our championship. It needs to be significant and stand out. We think $22.5 [million] does.”
A total prize breakdown is listed below by finishing position.
2026 U.S. Open Prize Purse Breakdown
1 $4,500,000
2 $2,430,000
3 $1,512,274
4 $1,060,158
5 $883,010
6 $782,952
7 $705,863
8 $632,183
9 $572,149
10 $525,531
11 $479,595
12 $443,437
13 $413,193
14 $381,356
15 $354,068
16 $331,328
17 $313,135
18 $294,943
19 $276,750
20 $258,558
21 $242,867
22 $227,177
23 $211,941
24 $197,841
25 $185,561
26 $175,101
27 $167,142
28 $160,092
29 $153,270
30 $146,448
31 $139,626
32 $132,803
33 $125,981
34 $119,841
35 $114,839
36 $109,836
37 $105,060
38 $100,512
39 $95,964
40 $91,416
41 $86,868
42 $82,320
43 $77,772
44 $73,223
45 $68,675
46 $64,582
47 $60,489
48 $56,624
49 $54,350
50 $52,075
51 $50,711
52 $49,573
53 $48,664
54 $48,210
55 $47,754
56 $47,299
57 $46,845
58 $46,390
59 $45,936
60 $45,480
Mike is a founding member of Break80 Golf and a contributing golf and sports writer for Forbes with PGA Tour and LIV Golf media credentials. Mike can be reached at [email protected] with inquiries or story leads.
