On the PGA Tour, winning titles is usually a lot more important than the money you get for becoming a winner. Guys say that they want to win to become a part of a select company and hoist a trophy over your head. But, in a lot of ways, the money is much more important that winning titles. That is true of getting into major championships, World Golf Championship events, and other limited field events.
This week's event, the Tour Championship, is one of those instances. In order to qualify for the season's final tournament, you have to be in the top 30 on the season-long money list. In order to qualify in position 30 this year (Lucas Glover), you had to earn nearly $2 million over the course of the year.
Winning a tournament, in and of itself, is not enough to get you into the Tour Championship. Victories on Tour generally earn players somewhere between $600K and $1 million. Doing simple math, winning would only place a player one-third to one-half of the way to the magic number. Players who earn an opportunity to play in the season finale have to be consistent over the course of the year. The Tour rewards the most consistent players with a guaranteed paycheck in a no-cut event.
But, don't get me wrong — winning can help a man make the leap into the top earnings tier on Tour. For instance, Lucas Glover certainly benefited from a win at the Funai Classic two weeks ago. He picked up over $800,000 for the title. In 26 other events, though, he earned about $1.1 million. That means Lucas must have averaged over $40,000 per his remaining starts. That translates into an average of a top-15 finish over every start.
You have to be that good to get into the No. 30 spot. Imagine what it takes to get higher than that. Most people, even golf fans, have little idea of how consistently excellent a player must be to qualify for the Tour Championship. Certainly, the average fan cannot fully comprehend how hard it is to average a top-15 finish for the whole season.
But, this is par for the course for the Tour. It has a very difficult time in promoting some of its best stars rather than the interesting angles on Tour — like the race for the top 30 on the money list. The race has a lot of meaning with the players and should translate into a strong marketing tool for the Tour with fans.
I have alluded to the NASCAR points race many times and the allure that it has with common fans. People can understand the components of the points system and recognize the year's worth of hard work that goes into getting into the Chase for the Cup. If the Tour was able to do the same thing, and it appears that they will, then it may be able to lure in the more common fan. After all, who would have guessed a decade ago that guys turning left in an oval would become so popular? But, I digress.
The chase for the top 30 on the money list is one of the few times when the Tour season strings together. Often times, there is a lack of continuity in the schedule — each event is to itself and loosely affiliated with the remaining events. After all, it is sorare that most of the field carries over week to week that it is tough to follow who is playing and when and how well they are doing.
The Tour Championship, though, strives to make the season count for something. In the next television contract, hopefully this event will serve to promote and reward the many strong performances across the Tour in any given season.
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