The winner of the 2016 British Open Championship will win $1.5 million. However, that's $246,750 less than they would have won before the Brexit vote.
The R&A announced the prize pool for the Open at Royal Troon, noting that the 2016 total purse went up 200,000 GBP from 2015 to 6.5 million GBP. That's great. However, while the number of pounds on offer went up, the value of the purse in U.S. dollars went down.
Last year during the Open Championship, the British pound was worth about $1.53, so the total purse was about $9.7 million. This year, with the British pound now at $1.29, the purse is now $8.4 million.
We've detailed the difference in what players would have been paid pre-Brexit vote, when the British pound was at $1.50, and the current valuation.
2016 British Open Championship prize pool and payouts
| PLACE | GBP | USD PRE-BREXIT | USD JULY 5 | DIFFERENCE |
| 1 | £1,175,000 | $1,762,500 | $1,515,750 | $246,750 |
| 2 | £675,000 | $1,012,500 | $870,750 | $141,750 |
| 3 | £433,000 | $649,500 | $558,570 | $90,930 |
| 4 | £337,000 | $505,500 | $434,730 | $70,770 |
| 5 | £271,000 | $406,500 | $349,590 | $56,910 |
| 6 | £235,000 | $352,500 | $303,150 | $49,350 |
| 7 | £201,000 | $301,500 | $259,290 | $42,210 |
| 8 | £170,000 | $255,000 | $219,300 | $35,700 |
| 9 | £149,000 | $223,500 | $192,210 | $31,290 |
| 10 | £135,000 | $202,500 | $174,150 | $28,350 |
| 11 | £122,000 | $183,000 | $157,380 | $25,620 |
| 12 | £108,750 | $163,125 | $140,288 | $22,838 |
| 13 | £102,000 | $153,000 | $131,580 | $21,420 |
| 14 | £95,500 | $143,250 | $123,195 | $20,055 |
| 15 | £89,500 | $134,250 | $115,455 | $18,795 |
| 16 | £82,000 | $123,000 | $105,780 | $17,220 |
| 17 | £78,000 | $117,000 | $100,620 | $16,380 |
| 18 | £74,000 | $111,000 | $95,460 | $15,540 |
| 19 | £71,000 | $106,500 | $91,590 | $14,910 |
| 20 | £68,000 | $102,000 | $87,720 | $14,280 |
| 21 | £64,500 | $96,750 | $83,205 | $13,545 |
| 22 | £61,500 | $92,250 | $79,335 | $12,915 |
| 23 | £58,250 | $87,375 | $75,143 | $12,233 |
| 24 | £55,000 | $82,500 | $70,950 | $11,550 |
| 25 | £53,000 | $79,500 | $68,370 | $11,130 |
| 26 | £50,750 | $76,125 | $65,468 | $10,658 |
| 27 | £48,750 | $73,125 | $62,888 | $10,238 |
| 28 | £47,000 | $70,500 | $60,630 | $9,870 |
| 29 | £45,000 | $67,500 | $58,050 | $9,450 |
| 30 | £43,250 | $64,875 | $55,793 | $9,083 |
| 31 | £41,500 | $62,250 | $53,535 | $8,715 |
| 32 | £39,250 | $58,875 | $50,633 | $8,243 |
| 33 | £38,000 | $57,000 | $49,020 | $7,980 |
| 34 | £36,750 | $55,125 | $47,408 | $7,718 |
| 35 | £35,500 | $53,250 | $45,795 | $7,455 |
| 36 | £34,000 | $51,000 | $43,860 | $7,140 |
| 37 | £32,500 | $48,750 | $41,925 | $6,825 |
| 38 | £31,000 | $46,500 | $39,990 | $6,510 |
| 39 | £30,000 | $45,000 | $38,700 | $6,300 |
| 40 | £28,750 | $43,125 | $37,088 | $6,038 |
| 41 | £27,500 | $41,250 | $35,475 | $5,775 |
| 42 | £26,250 | $39,375 | $33,863 | $5,513 |
| 43 | £25,000 | $37,500 | $32,250 | $5,250 |
| 44 | £23,750 | $35,625 | $30,638 | $4,988 |
| 45 | £22,500 | $33,750 | $29,025 | $4,725 |
| 46 | £21,500 | $32,250 | $27,735 | $4,515 |
| 47 | £20,500 | $30,750 | $26,445 | $4,305 |
| 48 | £19,500 | $29,250 | $25,155 | $4,095 |
| 49 | £18,700 | $28,050 | $24,123 | $3,927 |
| 50 | £18,300 | $27,450 | $23,607 | $3,843 |
| 51 | £17,900 | $26,850 | $23,091 | $3,759 |
| 52 | £17,500 | $26,250 | $22,575 | $3,675 |
| 53 | £17,250 | $25,875 | $22,253 | $3,623 |
| 54 | £17,000 | $25,500 | $21,930 | $3,570 |
| 55 | £16,750 | $25,125 | $21,608 | $3,518 |
| 56 | £16,500 | $24,750 | $21,285 | $3,465 |
| 57 | £16,300 | $24,450 | $21,027 | $3,423 |
| 58 | £16,200 | $24,300 | $20,898 | $3,402 |
| 59 | £16,100 | $24,150 | $20,769 | $3,381 |
| 60 | £16,000 | $24,000 | $20,640 | $3,360 |
| 61 | £15,900 | $23,850 | $20,511 | $3,339 |
| 62 | £15,800 | $23,700 | $20,382 | $3,318 |
| 63 | £15,700 | $23,550 | $20,253 | $3,297 |
| 64 | £15,600 | $23,400 | $20,124 | $3,276 |
| 65 | £15,500 | $23,250 | $19,995 | $3,255 |
| 66 | £15,400 | $23,100 | $19,866 | $3,234 |
| 67 | £15,300 | $22,950 | $19,737 | $3,213 |
| 68 | £15,200 | $22,800 | $19,608 | $3,192 |
| 69 | £15,100 | $22,650 | $19,479 | $3,171 |
| 70 | £15,000 | $22,500 | $19,350 | $3,150 |
Every professional in the field will earn a minimum of £3,100 for competing in the championship.
