British Open 2013 Prize Money: Complete Purse and Earnings from Muirfield

It doesn't take a world-renowned economist to know that winning one of golf's major championships provides a hefty financial windfall.

Even as the sport continues evolving into a more competitive, year-round tour ripe with top-tier events, no tournaments will ever reach the cache—financially or within the sport—of the four chosen to represent the best of the best. 

Such is the case again in 2013 as we head into golf's third major, The Open Championship at Muirfield Golf Links in Scotland.

It is the oldest among the sport's hallowed events. This will mark the 142nd Open Championship, which is 29 greater than the next most prevalent tournament, the U.S. Open—so winning at Muirfield will bring forth a great sense of pride. Raising the Claret Jug is a triumph that the winners tell their grandchildren about when their golf brilliance becomes a fading memory.

It also doesn't hurt that winning a British Open comes with a big enough prize to pay those grandchildren's tuition someday. The Open Championship, like all majors, comes with a total purse in the $8 million (£5.25 million) range, with this year's event hitting that mark right on the nose. The Royal & Ancient announced a purse increase of $380,000 (£250,000) for this year's event to bring it to a more competitive level with the remaining three majors, all while giving golfers even more of an incentive to bring their top form.

Not that they needed it, of course. The Open Championship has a history of confounding even the greatest golfers in the world. The strange dimensions and difficult conditions oftentimes send scores skyrocketing over the weekend.

Even Tiger Woods, a noted lover of links course golf, has fallen victim to the wills of Muirfield. When the Open Championship was last held at the Scottish course in 2002, Woods shot a third-round 81, booting him out of contention and ending all hopes of him winning four straight.

The course's difficulty makes finding a way to navigate through 72 holes and come out on top more satisfying. As golfers finish up their final practice rounds and work out the kinks in their swings, let's take a look at a few to watch and break down the prize money available to players at the 2013 Open Championship. 

2013 Open Championship Prize Money 

Place	Prize (Dollars)	Prize (Pounds)	Place	Prize (Dollars)	Prize (Pounds)
1	$1.43 million	£945,000	37	$39,447	£26,000
2	$823,167	£545,000	38	$37,930	£25,000
3	$528,639	£350,000	39	$36,412	£24,000
4	$415,399	£272,500	40	$34,874	£23,000
5	$335,346	£220,000	41	$33,358	£22,000
6	$289,750	£190,000	42	$31,842	£21,000
7	$247,698	£162,500	43	$30,326	£20,000
8	$209,646	£137,500	44	$28,819	£19,000
9	$182,964	£120,000	45	$27,302	£18,000
10	$167,706	£110,000	46	$26,175	£17,250
11	$150,925	£99,000	47	$25,037	£16,500
12	$134,156	£88,000	48	$23,897	£15,750
13	$117,386	£82,000	49	$23,134	£15,250
14	$109,764	£77,000	50	$22,375	£14,750
15	$100,617	£72,000	51	$21,996	£14,500
16	$96,049	£66,000	52	$21,618	£14,250
17	$91,476	£63,000	53	$21,243	£14,000
18	$87,664	£60,000	54	$20,940	£13,800
19	$87,210	£57,500	55	$20,633	£13,600
20	$83,424	£55,000	56	$20,482	£13,500
21	$78,894	£52,000	57	$20,331	£13,400
22	$75,101	£49,500	58	$20,180	£13,300
23	$71,308	£47,000	59	$20,024	£13,200
24	$68,274	£45,000	60	$19,872	£13,100
25	$65,239	£43,000	61	$19,724	£13,000
26	$62,205	£41,000	62	$19,577	£12,900
27	$59,929	£39,500	63	$19,425	£12,800
28	$57,657	£38,000	64	$19,273	£12,700
29	$55,377	£36,500	65	$19,119	£12,600
30	$53,102	£35,000	66	$18,967	£12,500
31	$50,836	£33,500	67	$18,815	£12,400
32	$47,801	£31,500	68	$18,664	£12,300
33	$46,283	£30,500	69	$18,512	£12,200
34	$44,763	£29,500	70	$18,360	£12,100
35	$43,245	£28,500
36	$41,728	£27,500

 *Prize Money will be added if more than 70 golfers who have turned pro qualify for the weekend. Amateurs are not awarded prize money. Professionals who do not make the weekend are awarded figures ranging from $3,776 (£2,500) to $5,588 (£3,700).

*Courtesy of The Open Championship's official website. U.S. conversions done at current exchange rate. 

2013 Open Championship Leaderboard

Golfers to Watch

Tiger Woods (Thursday Tee Time: 9:45 a.m. ET, 2:45 p.m. BST)

We're entering the phase in Tiger's career where it's fair to say he likely won't break Jack Nicklaus' record of 18 major championships. It's been five years since Tiger triumphed over Rocco Mediate at the 2008 U.S. Open, a time frame that has seen the world's top-ranked golfer undergo arguably greater personal and professional turmoil than anyone in the world.

The former seems finally far enough in the rear-view mirror that it shouldn't play a factor. And the latter has become the most relative criticism known to man. Woods has won four tournaments on the PGA Tour already this season, double that of any other golfer, and finished in a tie for fourth at the Masters. His 2013 campaign would be a career year for most players on tour, yet everyone seems fixated on whether or not he can finally get past this slump.

While these narrative tropes are often the most frustrating thing about sports, with Woods it seems totally fair.

Since he has made no qualms about judging himself on the majors, we're justified in judging his season on whether or not he wins one or two. There is no competition in this field from a legacy standpoint. Not Rory McIlroy. Not Phil Mickelson. No one.

Tiger is the kid playing by himself because the other kids aren't quite up to snuff; he's playing varsity basketball while the rest of his seventh-grade compadres throw legacy noodles at the cafeteria lady.

The problem is that Woods is quietly running out of time. He was 32 when he won his last major, seemingly in the prime of his career. He was the same age as Adam Scott and Justin Rose, two great golfers, were this year when they won their first major.

Capturing five more seemed like a certainty for Woods. Everyone assumed he would zoom past Nicklaus and leave no question in the discussion of greatest golfer of all time.

Tiger is 37 now. He's firmly in the post-prime phase of his career. No longer is he booming it farther and suffocating the field with his dominance. When he wins, it's usually by a couple of strokes, and almost always after he had built a lead with nice opening rounds.

That's what makes watching him so important on Thursday. Tiger is a comfortable links golfer who probably would have won in 2002 had he not run into hellish conditions in the third round. His increasing penchant for good but not great rounds puts him in as solid position as any to overcome the wiles of Muirfield.

The question isn't whether he'll be good. We know he will be. The question is whether he'll be good enough to win.

Rory McIlroy (Thursday Tee Time: 4:44 a.m. ET, 9:44 a.m. BST)

By the end of the 2012 season, the golf world looked like it had entered the Age of Rory. Starting with his world-beating triumph at the PGA Championship in August, McIlroy cemented himself as the top-ranked golfer and went on a torrid late-season charge. He won two FedEx Cup tournaments, which seemed to be his first championship at the PGA's pseudo-postseason. 

Unfortunately for the North Irish star, that momentum came crashing down. Brandt Snedeker sent a shock wave through the world by taking the Tour Championship and the FedEx Cup, which coincided with the beginning of a frustrating downfall for McIlroy.

This season has seen the 24-year-old golfer lose his world No. 1 ranking to a 37-year-old legend, as he's hit one of the greatest slumps of his career. McIlroy has finished 25th or worse in six of his 10 events in 2013, has just one top five on the season and has been a complete nonfactor on major championship weekends.

All of this has led to the type of backlash one would expect. McIlroy has taken flack for just about every facet of his game, including his inability to keep his cool when things start to go wrong. Some, including Nick Faldo, have implied that McIlroy is not focused on the game enough to make a consistent impact.

"You have a window of opportunity,’ Faldo told Alan Fraser of the Daily Mail. "You have a 20-year window as an athlete. Concentrate on golf, nothing else."

McIlroy seemed unfazed by Faldo's commends, noting that he feels like things will turn around soon, per Paul Newberry of the Associated Press, via Yahoo! News: 

"

What's the big deal? I haven't had the best six months, but it's OK. I'm fine. I've got a good life. So, you know, it doesn't bother me. I'm in a good place. And as I said, I'm working hard. I feel like I'm working on the right things. And sooner or later it will turn around and I'll be back lifting trophies.

"

Will that turnaround come at Muirfield? It seems unlikely.

McIlroy's big moment came at an Open Championship in 2010, but he has not played well on links courses since. He finished in a tie for 25th in 2011 and a tie for 60th last year at the Open Championship, and the inconsistencies in his game lend themselves to one high number this weekend.

Phil Mickelson (Thursday Tee Time: 4:44 a.m. ET, 9:44 a.m. BST)

Major championships tend to make for elite pairings in the first two days of action, with the organizers looking to attract as many eyeballs as possible before the real competition begins. Such is the case with Mickelson and McIlroy, both of whom could either flame out or lift the Claret Jug this week.

Historically speaking, you wouldn't tend to say such things about "Lefty" at an Open Championship. The 43-year-old American has been unsightly during most of his trips to Europe, with a tie for second two years ago being his only chance at winning.

With his erratic style and his addiction for pushing for the spectacular, Mickelson has found himself often playing his weekend rounds early in the morning—if he gets there at all. He has double the amount of missed cuts (four) as he does top-10 finishes (two) at Open Championships and has finished outside the top 50 nine times.

As he's wont to do, though, Lefty made himself look like a contender at last week's Scottish Open. Playing a more conservative, confident style on the links course, Mickelson captured his first European crown in 20 years after defeating Branden Grace in a playoff.

Though the Scottish Open course conditions lent themselves to low numbers and Mickelson saved himself from a few bad holes as a result, his comfort level seemed at an all-time high—especially considering how vexing this style has been in the past.

He seemed especially confident in his putting skills, per USA Today. 

"I am really optimistic about this week and going forward because I'm starting to putt as well as I ever have," he said. "I putted great last week, and more than that, I've been putting well now for months."

It will take more than good putting to keep Mickelson in contention. The reason for his struggles over the years at these courses is that he tends to take a hole that should be a bogey or double and turns it into a fiasco. Folks have been imploring Mickelson to play "within himself" for years. That's not going to happen in his early 40s.

To stay in contention, Mickelson will have to play his brand of golf, get some luck and press the pause button once or twice before taking a big club out of the bag. It seems simple enough, but let's just say we're only cautiously optimistic here.

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