U.S. Open 2019: Here are all of the exemptions (and prizes) U.S. Open champion Gary Woodland just won

There are lots of benefits that come with being a major champion, but if money means a lot to you, you’ll likely find the paycheck for winning America’s national championship to be outrageously awesome.

In 2018, Brooks Koepka brought home $2.16 million. This year, Gary Woodland will pocket $2.25 million — that’s $90,000 more than Koepka got last year.

The winner of the U.S. Open also gets 100 World Ranking points, which can easily catapult him into the rankings’ elite zone — meaning invitations to World Golf Championships, where there is no cut and thus, a continued flow of money. In Woodlands’s case, this is less important, because he is already ranked 25th in the world, but it will go a long way into cementing his elite status by catapulting him even higher.

And speaking of points, a U.S. Open win is worth 600 PGA Tour FedEx Cup points, so a player will be well on his way to qualifying for the BMW Championship and Tour Championship at the end of the season — two more tournaments with no cut.

Now for the exemptions. A U.S. Open win gives you a 10-year exemption into the U.S. Open, a five-year exemption on the PGA Tour, and a five-year exemption into the Masters, British Open and PGA Championship. You also receive an invitation to the following year’s Tournament of Champions, which takes place in Maui at the Kapalua Resort during the first week of January and is reserved only for PGA Tour winners. Oh yeah — there’s no cut in that event either.

As for prizes, the winner of the U.S. Open also receives the iconic U.S. Open trophy and U.S. Open Championship gold medal, which is bestowed upon the winner during the trophy ceremony after the conclusion of play. The USGA has presented the medal to winners of the U.S. Open since 1895. In short, not a bad haul for four days of good golf!

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