GERMAN’S Martin Kaymer won the Players Championship by one shot over Jim Furyk. Kaymer finished the tournament on 13-under par. Kaymer a former world number one and major winner last recorded a win in South Africa in 2012.
Kaymer nearly blew a three-shot lead after a 90-minute rain delay until he sunk a 30-foot par putt on the 17th which helped him settle his nerves. Kaymer (29) dedicated his victory to his late mother who died of cancer in 2008.
Over the last few weeks people have been asking how much money I made from winning a recently held tournament. There is a misconception that all golfers stand a chance of winning a lot of money from playing golf. Unfortunately in golf there is a huge difference between rules governing amateur golfers and professional golfers.
According to the rules an amateur golfer is not entitled to win prizes with a retail value of more than $500. Why there is such a distinction is that the major focus in amateur golf is on the game’s challenges and inherent rewards rather than the financial gain.
Profesional golfers are individuals who make a living from the sport.
They are mainly divided into two major groups. The majority of professional golfers make their living from coaching and running golf clubs while the other group derives their income from playing in tournaments. Their income is mainly derived from prize money and endorsement deals.
These individuals are mainly referred to as tour professionals. People often see the tour professionals being quoted as having won sizeable amounts of money, but it is not all of them who earn money from the tournament. On average a tournament will have 160 participants, but it is only the top 60 players who will get paid, all the others will have suffered a loss for the week.
Gambling is also another area were amateur golfers are greatly regulated. In the rules of golf there is a guideline to acceptable forms of gambling. In short, it states that gambling or wagering is acceptable provided the primary purpose of playing the game is for enjoyment and not for financial gain.
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The two main areas that are mentioned are that the amount involved should generally not be considered excessive and that participation in the wager is optional and limited to the players. Over the years it has been observed that big bets have led to golfers breaking the rules to ensure that they win at all costs which is detrimental to the integrity of the game.
Amateur golf is mainly self regulating as there usually are no referees or cameras to observe players on the course.
The summary of all of this is that if a golfer wishes to make money from the sport then that individual has the option of turning professional and is then entitled to make money from playing the sport.
