US Open Golf Purse 2017: Projecting Payouts for Top-10 Leaderboard Standings

Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy and Jason Day may not have made it to the weekend in Erin, Wisconsin, but don't think for a minute that the U.S. Open has lost all of its luster.

The national championship needed someone to step forward, and Justin Thomas jumped up in spectacular fashion.

All Thomas did was tie the record initially set by Johnny Miller at Oakmont 44 years ago by tearing up Erin Hills with a 63. His nine-under par score for the round is the best relative to par in the 117-year history of the U.S. Open.

Thomas is 11-under as he heads into Sunday's championship round, but that round was not good enough to give him the lead at the conclusion of moving day.

Brian Harman took the lead at 12 under par, and he has a one-stroke lead over Thomas, Brooks Koepka and Tommy Fleetwood.

Thomas set the tone for his record-setting round when he holed a spectacular birdie putt on the fifth hole. Thomas set his putter in motion at a 90-degree angle from the hole, putted the ball sideways for two or three feet and then let gravity take the putt another 18 feet and into the hole. He closed his round with an eagle on the 18th hole.

It's the first 63 at the U.S. Open since Vijay Singh accomplished the feat at Olympia Fields in 2003 and only the fifth time it's happened in tournament history.

"I had no idea in terms of 9 under being the best in the U.S. Open," he said, per the Associated Press (h/t Chicago Sun-Times).

"The majors have a different feel, with those roars," Thomas told Fox Sports interviewer Shane Bacon on the broadcast after the round (via Omnisport, h/t Yahoo Sports). "To hear the crowd go crazy when I made that putt was really cool, but not only that, more importantly, to give myself a better chance to win the tournament."

The U.S. Open offers a spectacular financial reward to the winner and the high finishers. It is the highest paying tournament of the year, and the prize money is 20 percent higher than it was in 2017.

Players are competing for $12 million, and the winner will earn $2.16 million, according to Golf.com. That's significantly higher than the $1.8 million that Johnson earned for winning the 2016 U.S. Open.

Sergio Garcia earned $1.98 million for his Masters win earlier this year.

The first prize amount is the only figure that has officially been announced by the United States Golf Association, but with a 20 percent increase in the total purse as well as the champion's share, here are the projections for the U.S. Open finish as well as the estimates on the top-10 payouts. (All figures are 20 percent higher than the corresponding figures from 2016.)

Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

2017 U.S. Open purse, winner's share, projected prize money payout

1. Brooks Koepka, $2,160,000
2. Justin Thomas, $1,296,000
3. Rickie Fowler, $813,070
4. Patrick Reed, $573,904
5. Brian Harman, $478,253
6. Tommy Fleetwood, $420,294
7. Si Woo Kim, $376,019
8. Bill Haas, $338,214
9. Russell Henley, $306,754
10. Louis Oosthuizen, $283,424

Koepka's distance and consistency should put him in an excellent position to make a charge to the title. Thomas should follow his record-setting round with another fine performance, but it won't be good enough to beat Koepka.

Fowler is streaky and he may have the lead at some point in the final round, but he will settle for third place. Ryder Cup hero Patrick Reed will be right on Fowler's heels.

Harman will feel the pressure of sleeping on the lead in the U.S. Open, and he may have a hard time matching what he did on moving day.