The answer is that it varies, but this info-graphic from CCA sheds a little bit of light on how lucrative professional golf endorsements can be. It seems interesting that Champions Tour players out-earn LPGA’ers. And of course they’re all dwarfed by the money tree that is the PGA Tour.
Long drive phenom Jamie Sadlowski will tee it up this afternoon at the Albertson’s Boise Open in his first ever Nationwide Tour start.
Sadlowski played in a 9-hole skins match on Monday with John Daly. While he lost the match to Daly 7 to 2 (shooting even par), he did manage to drive a 359-yard par-4 with a 14* hybrid, which reportedly left Daly “flabbergasted”.
Sadlowski’s stated goal is to try to beat Jason Zuback’s record of 5 Re/Max long drive titles before transitioning into competitive golf. He’ll have a shot at winning his 3rd title on Nov 4th in Nevada.
[Image golf.com]
Just weeks after Russell Henley became only the 2nd amateur in history to win a Nationwide Tour event, his fellow University of Georgia teammate Harris English matched him by winning the Children’s Hospital Invitational. The final pairing actually consisted of two amateurs, leaving the professionals to vie for the title of “low-professional” (and of course 1st place prize money).
An amateur winning a professional event is almost unheard of, but to have it happen twice within a matter of months is mind-blowing. What exactly are they putting in the water over at UGA?
It must be something strong given English’s statements after his win. LSU’s John Peterson (the other amatuer in the final pairing and the ultimate 2nd place finisher) started things off with this gem:
If you haven’t had a chance yet to head over and read Robert Garrigus’s interview in the latest Golf Digest, I highly recommend it. Not only is it an interesting look at a player that doesn’t exactly fit the mold on the PGA Tour, it contains some very controversial revelations about drug use on tour.
I can’t say that I’m the biggest fan of Mr. Bassaholic, but I do admire his willingness to call it how he sees it. He’s never been shy about discussing his past drug and alcohol issues, but even so, his claim that he and other players used drugs during Nationwide tour events is pretty surprising.
Some bootleg footage of Russell Henley’s victory on Sunday.
After becoming only the 2nd amateur winner in Nationwide Tour history, University of Georgia Senior, Russell Henley has decided to retain his amateur status.
The $99k winner’s purse went to second place finisher Troy Kelley who finished 2 shots behind Henley. Henley still has 60 days to change his mind and accept winner’s status on the Nationwide Tour.
Anthony Kim went straight from college to the PGA Tour via Q-school in 2006
The NY Times is reporting that the PGA Tour is considering a dramatic change to the end of the season that would significantly reshape how players earn PGA Tour cards. The net of the idea is that the players who don’t make the FedEx Cup Playoffs would play in a series of 3 tournaments against Nationwide Tour players. The series would have a points structure and the rankings at the end of the series would determine who gets a PGA Tour card for the following season.
The current speculation is that the tournaments would consist of 75 PGA Tour players and 50 Nationwide Tour players competing for 50 PGA Tour cards. The Tour’s policy board has given preliminary approval to the concept and began informing players of the decision by memo yesterday.
Last Monday, Brett Waldman, shot a final round 68 at PGA Tour Q-School. It wasn’t enough for him to earn a PGA Tour Card, but it was good enough to get him a Nationwide Tour Card. And the Nationwide Tour is where you will find Waldman next year.
There was quite a bit of speculation about where he would be in 2011. Would he be on Camilo’s bag or making a go of it on the Nationwide Tour? If he had earned a PGA Tour card, the decision would have been a no-brainer. But the Nationwide Tour wasn’t necessarily an easy choice.
This is what happens when a truck driver gets overly optimistic about his ability to take down 2000 lbs of Texan USDA Prime.
Announcer Curt Byrum and producer Keith Hirshland, the mastermind behind Saturday's "announer-lite" coverage
If you’re not aware, the Golf Channel decided to broadcast the Nationwide Tour’s Albertson’s Boise Open today without traditional announcers. Instead of continuous commentary, they focused more on capturing sound/conversations from the different groups on the course and conducting player interviews. Announcers Jerry Foltz and Curt Byrum managed to stay busy however, as they were responding to tweets, Facebook and e-mails while also conducting phone interviews with notable golfers such as Stewart Cink, Zack Johnson, and Matt Kuchar. So did the experiment in cost cutting work? In a nutshell, Yes.
