The US Women's Open 36-hole cut rule is one of the strictest in golf, limiting the weekend field to the top 60 players and ties -- a big difference from the LPGA Tour 36-hole cut rule of the top 65 and ties.
So, in a field of 156 players at the US Women's Open, more than half are going home after the second round. Do US Women's Open players get paid if they miss the cut?
Actually, they do, if they're a professional golfer. At the US Women's Open, the professionals who miss the 36-hole cut are also paid. In 2023, those professionals who missed the cut were paid $8,000, and it's paid out of the total purse.
Amateurs are not paid but their travel expenses are covered.
Most weeks, when LPGA Tour players miss the cut, they don't get paid. No LPGA Tour event that's not a major pays out to players who miss the cut, though there are events where there's not a cut.
With the US Women's Open boasting the biggest purse in the history of women's golf, making the cut this weekend is a huge deal for pay and can mean an opportunity to move up the weekend leaderboard toward a career-making payday.
