Wednesday, March 4, 2009

Random #3

An oldie but a goodie:


It's All About the Benjamins

A golf professional plays for a few reasons, for the love of the game and to compete, but also for the money. Golf is a career for these guys, their way of income. The big names we all know have been on top of the of money list many times:

Career Earnings:
Tiger Woods- $82,449,376
Phil Mickelson-
$51,827,191
Vijay Singh- $60,863,812

But what about those who haven't? Is it worth it to keep playing on tour even with the economy as bad as it is and with the PGA TOUR losing sponsorships? I was on pgatour.com searching through player profiles looking at how much they've made year-to-year and in their career. I clicked the scroll bar and moved my mouse over a random name, someone I have never heard of:

Tag Ridings:
Turned Pro: 1997
Career Earnings on the PGA TOUR- $3,019,770
Career Earnings on the NationwideTour $324,226

So since Tag turned pro in 1997 he has played in 140 PGA events and 49 Nationwide events and has earned $3,343,996, averaging $303,999.63 per year excluding 2009. I'd take that. He hasn't had the glory and the fame of winning multiple times on either tour (only winning once on the Nationwide Tour and none on the PGA TOUR) like the big names have, but has earned a decent living doing what he loves. That's all I need to hear.

This should prove to the players with dreams and aspirations of playing professionally that there is a chance to make a good living out on tour even without winning. Just a few top 10's and top 25's will get you a good paycheck for 4 days at the office. If you keep up the hard work and practice it takes, the wins will come. Look at Pat Perez:

Turned Pro: 1997
Career Earnings on the PGA TOUR- $9,260,666

Pat has played in 203 events on the PGA TOUR and his first win came this year, 2009, at the 50th Bob Hope Classic.