The AIG Women’s Open has set a new benchmark for prize money in women’s golf with the announcement that the prize fund for this year’s championship will increase by $1.3 million to $5.8 million with the winner earning $870,000.
With the support of title sponsor AIG, the largest prize fund in women’s major championship golf will increase by a further $1 million to no less than $6.8 million in 2022. This will more than double the prize fund from 2018 before AIG’s partnership with The R&A commenced.
The AIG Women’s Open takes place from 19-22 August at Carnoustie and will be played in 2022 at Muirfield, another of Scotland’s world-renowned links courses.
Martin Slumbers, Chief Executive of The R&A, said, “We are absolutely committed to elevating the AIG Women’s Open and enhancing its status as one of golf’s premier championships. With our partners at AIG, we are taking action to make change happen and sending out a strong signal that more needs to be done by everyone involved to grow women’s golf. It needs greater investment and support from golf bodies, sponsors, the media and fans to help us grow the game’s commercial success and generate the income and revenues necessary to make prize fund growth viable and sustainable.
“We have set a new benchmark for prize money in women’s major championship golf this week and, thanks to AIG, will build on it still further next year. We hope this will inspire other events to follow our lead and help us to take a collective leap forward for the women’s game.”
Peter Zaffino, President and Chief Executive Officer of AIG, said, “AIG is proud to be the title sponsor of the AIG Women’s Open, which is one of the most prestigious and celebrated golf championships in the world. We are committed to serving as allies to women in golf, in business and in the communities where we live and work. Striving for pay equity and highlighting the achievements of successful women are critical components to this commitment and part of AIG’s core values. We are very pleased with today’s announcement as it represents an important step forward in raising the profile of women’s golf and the status of the AIG Women’s Open. We thank The R&A for their excellent partnership and I am confident that together we will continue to lead the way in achieving meaningful progress.”
In 2019, in AIG’s first year as title sponsor of the championship the prize fund was increased by $1.25 million to $4.5 million, an increase of almost 40% on the previous year.