The winner of the 2019 US Open gets a lot of money, and the US Open first-place payout is commensurate with winning a major championship.
The 2019 US Open purse is $12.5 million, an increase of $500,000 from the prior year. The USGA pays 18 percent of the total purse to the winner, so the 2019 US Open winner will earn $2,250,000 as the first-place payout.
In 2018, Brooks Koepka won $2,160,000 as the US Open winner's check from a $12 million purse.
The US Open has the biggest purse in professional golf along with The Players Championship, which has a $12.5 million purse.
However, the tournament with the highest first-place payout in all of professional golf now belongs to the European Tour. The winner of the season-ending 2019 DP World Tour Championship on the European Tour will win $3,000,000, making it the biggest first-place payout in all of golf.