The final Major of the year is in the home stretch and in just a few hours’ time we will know who has been crowned the AIG Women’s Open champion at Royal Lytham & St Annes.
With one round to play, Yealimi Noh had opened up a three-shot lead as 18 holes stood between her and her maiden Major title.
It was far from done and dusted, though, with five players, Esther Henseleit, Jeeno Thitikul, Haeran Ryu, Lucy Li and Shiho Kuwaki, all in pursuit.
The prize for coming out on top is even more impressive than last year (and the year before that) as The R&A confirmed back in April the overall prize money payout was being increased for a sixth consecutive occasion.
There is a total of $10 million on the line this week, which is identical to the PGA Tour’s Rocket Classic that concludes later today.
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While the winner of the men’s event earns $1.8 million, the AIG Women’s Open champion will claim $1.5 million – the highest figure in the championship’s 50-year history.
For comparison, a year ago, Miyu Yamashita won $1,462,500 for her victory, although she was one of the big names to miss the cut this year.
The runner-up is set to collect almost $1 million, but they (and everyone else in the field) will face similar costs to The Open Championship contenders, who saw their actual take-home pay greatly reduced due to various factors.
Those who finish inside the top 25 will likely pick up an initial check for more than $100,000.
Anyone who made the cut this weekend will be paid at least $11,000, while even those who missed the cut on Friday will earn $4,250.
Below is the maximum prize money payout for each position at the 2026 AIG Women’s Open before ties are taken into account.
AIG WOMEN’S OPEN PRIZE MONEY BREAKDOWN
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Position
Prize Money
1st
$1,500,000
2nd
$987,993
3rd
$715,578
4th
$552,615
5th
$443,983
6th
$362,501
7th
$302,750
8th
$264,730
9th
$237,569
10th
$215,839
11th
$199,538
12th
$185,958
13th
$174,008
14th
$163,148
15th
$153,367
16th
$144,677
17th
$137,077
18th
$130,557
19th
$125,127
20th
$120,777
21st
$116,437
22nd
$112,087
23rd
$107,747
24th
$103,397
25th
$99,597
26th
$95,797
27th
$91,986
28th
$88,186
29th
$84,386
30th
$81,126
31st
$77,866
32nd
$74,606
33rd
$71,346
34th
$68,086
35th
$65,376
36th
$62,656
37th
$59,946
38th
$57,226
39th
$54,505
40th
$52,336
41st
$50,166
42nd
$47,996
43rd
$45,815
44th
$43,645
45th
$42,015
46th
$40,385
47th
$38,755
48th
$37,125
49th
$35,495
50th
$33,865
51st
$32,786
52nd
$31,695
53rd
$30,605
54th
$29,525
55th
$28,435
56th
$27,345
57th
$26,265
58th
$25,175
59th
$24,095
60th
$23,005
61st
$22,465
62nd
$21,915
63rd
$21,375
64th
$20,835
65th
$20,285
66th
$19,745
67th
$19,205
68th
$18,655
69th
$18,115
70th
$17,575
71st
$13,116
72nd
$12,813
73rd
$12,510
74th
$12,207
75th
$11,903
76th
$11,600
Missed Cut
$4,250
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