2015 British Open payout: Zach Johnson wins $1.8 million in prize money

It was an exciting final round at the 2015 British Open on Monday with a host of players making runs at the top of the leaderboard. Several led throughout the day and for nearly all of the round, multiple players were within a stroke of the lead. In the end Zach Johnson prevailed at St. Andrews to win the Claret Jug and $1.8 million in first-place prize money from one of the most lucrative purses in golf.

Marc Leishman, Louis Oosthuizen and Johnson battled for the title in a three-man playoff. Johnson ultimately prevailed to hoist the Claret Jug. The victory is the most lucrative in his career. Losing in a playoff is a brutal reminder of how close you came to winning a major championship, but the runners up will walk away with nice consolation prizes. Each player will receive more than $835,000. The win gives Johnson more than $37 million in career winnings.

The Open Championship purse increased to $10 million in 2015, up from $9.19 million last season. The move was in response to other major championships previously moving to a $10 million purse. The PGA Championship and Players Championship both increased to $10 million purses with $1.8 million going to the winner last year. The Masters and U.S. Open followed suit this year and now the British Open joined them. The result is a nice boost for the winner. Rory McIlory took home $1.66 million for his British Open win last season.

The purse wasn't lucrative for just the winner. Ties factored heavily into the final payouts, but nine players made at least $305,000 A solo second-place finish would have been worth more than $1 million while 29 players walked away with at least $95,000. For some, the payout will be one of the biggest of their careers. For others, it's another nice deposit in a lucrative career. Jordan Spieth entered the tournament leading the money list on the PGA Tour with $8.7 million in on-course earnings this year. He came up short of winning a third straight major, but still collected a nice $460,000 payday, finishing tied for fourth and moving his season earnings to more than $9 million. No player has topped the $10 million mark since Tiger Woods in 2009.

A total of 80 players made the cut at St. Andrews, but only 75 are eligible for a piece of the prize money. Five amateurs made the cut and are not eligible to receive a payout. Heading into Monday, it looked like Paul Dunne might have to turn down a significant amount of money. He was tied for the 54-hole lead. He faltered some on Monday, but was still one of four amateurs to finish in the top 30. Their would-be winnings will instead be divided among the rest of the field, giving the other 75 competitors a slightly larger payday.

Here is the complete look at the 2015 British Open payout:

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