Columnist Peter Benton: Increase in purses benefits elite players

In 1968, Billy Casper won six PGA Tour tournaments -- the Los Angeles Open, Greater Greensboro Open, Colonial National Invitational, "500" Festival Open Invitation, Greater Hartford Open and the Lucky Invitational Open -- thus making history by becoming the first professional golfer to earn more than the then-unprecedented figure of $200,000 in a single season.

Twenty years later, in 1988, Curtis Strange broke the $1 million barrier when he pocketed $1,147,644 after winning four events: the Independent Insurance Agent Open, the Memorial Tournament, the U.S. Open and the Nabisco Championship.

Due to escalating purses, plus his undeniable skill, Tiger Woods broke the $2 million mark in 1997, amassing $2,066,833 by capturing the Mercedes Championship, Masters Tournament, GTE Byron Nelson Classic and the Motorola Western Open.

Last year's leading money winner was David Duval with a record $2,591,031. The question now is just how much will this year's money leader earn as the yearly purse on the PGA Tour has nearly tripled since 1990.

The current $132.3 million total for 1999 (compared to the $46.3 million offered in 1990) will rise even higher when the tour announces the purse increases for this year's majors.

So far the increase in purse total for this year compared to last is $36 million, a 37.5 percent raise, which is the largest single-season increase in the PGA Tour's history -- and this on top of a 23 percent leap in prize money in '98. That, gang, works out to a rather nifty 71 percent purse increase in just two short years.

I think it is wonderful that there is now the start of a "World Tour" which has been created through the formation of the International Federation of PGA Tours, with three tournaments scheduled for this year. These events are where the top 64 ranked players worldwide go at it head-to-head.

However, the downside is that the "fat cats" -- those already atop the various money leader boards -- are going to get a lot fatter.

That's fair enough, I suppose, because they also must be considered the better players. But those top 64 in the world rankings are also the ones eligible for the three new World Golf Championship tournaments -- with $1 million of the $5 million purse going to the winner.

Add in the Tour Championship, where the top 30 money winners on the PGA Tour's money standings will compete for a purse increased by $1 million, plus factor in the Players Championship, a full field event offering a $5 million purse, and one readily can see that those already making the big bucks are going to get fatter.

Think about it: There's an extra $20 million that wasn't there last year, which only the elite players are eligible to compete for.

Looking at it from the outside, it appears obvious that those now below that top 64 mark, or the great majority of them anyway, will have little chance to improve their lot, let alone join the ranks of these top money makers.

The bottom line here is that nobody begrudges the money made by the top players. They earn it, and in reality it is a pittance compared to the outlandish money that is offered to those playing team sports such as basketball and baseball. Something, though, has to be worked out to make things equitable for the rank-and-file professionals on the lower rungs of the ladder.

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