MIKE PURKEY
It’s hard to drum up any sympathy for
the player who finishes 126th on the PGA
Tour money list when this week ends.
Whoever that turns out to be has made
upward of $600,000 playing golf this year,
not to mention enough in endorsements
that will likely take care of his travel
expenses for the season.
There aren’t a whole lot of CEOs pulling
down that kind of compensation package. And with the economy doing a slow
bleed, unemployment at 9. 1 percent and
even folks with portfolios watching their
net worth shrink with each negative move
in the market, no one is going to shed a
tear for those who just missed being fully
exempt on Tour in 2012.
Besides, whichever players finish from
126th to 150th on the money list will get
about 15 starts from that category next
year and, if they are creative enough, they
can get another 10 or so sponsor exemptions to get around 25 starts on Tour for an
opportunity to make another $600,000 – or
more – while working only half the year.
They’re flying first class, eating steak
and being treated like kings, so it’s a tough
sell to convince anyone that these guys
have it tough.
Yet, if you watch golf on television this
time of year, the on-air talent will do its
best to convince you that the guys fight-
ing to get inside or stay inside the top 125
have their backs to the wall and that their
entire livelihood depends on whether they
can make enough money in the final two
weeks of the year to get inside the magic
number.
