Would You Rather…?

[ChetlovesMer]

7 hours ago, WillieT said:

   Great topic that really asks - what drives you most...

Thank you.

18 hours ago, Buckeyebowman said:

Either way, you'd be set for life if you were smart with your money, 

I'm not sure you'd even have to be that smart. Just not a complete idiot or an MC Hammer type that pays all his hangers-on. Or a Lawrence Taylor type that snorts all his money up his nose. 

 

29 minutes ago, Darkfrog said:

#1 - I'll take the glory of three majors and ten wins in a season. I figure one season like that would earn me enough money to retire living modestly, 

I'm not sure how modestly you'd have to live. By my math (Granted, I went to Chicago Public School, so math is pretty hard) You'd earn about 12 million dollars before you pay your caddie, and Uncle Sam gets his cut. 

4 minutes ago, Double Mocha Man said:

Modestly???  That's about $15 million without the endorsement deals.  Oh, you must mean a modest yacht and NetJet.

That's hilarious! I just estimated 12 million. But again, I went to Chicago Public School ….

[Double Mocha Man]

3 minutes ago, ChetlovesMer said:

That's hilarious! I just estimated 12 million. But again, I went to Chicago Public School ….

Ha!  I went to St. Louis public schools.  We always add $3 million to anything when it comes to money.

[Patch]

18 hours ago, ChetlovesMer said:

Let's imagine for a moment that you make it on the PGA or LPGA Tour, which ever is appropriate for your gender.

Would you rather...? #18:

Make a huge splash your very first year on tour. Winning an amazing 10 tournaments including 3 majors. From your second year onward you never make another cut. 

Or  

Play on the tour for 25 years. You win one tournament every other year, but no majors. You make the cut in half the tournaments you enter. Somehow you qualify for every major and make the cut in two majors each year but never win one. 

 

 

I'd do the first, "big splash" one. The monetary value in today's pro golf is just to great to pass up. 

The purses, long term endorsement contracts, and sound investments would would put me on easy street the rest of my life. 

That, and winning 3 majors would be kewl beans. 

[nevets88]

19 hours ago, ChetlovesMer said:

Let's imagine for a moment that you make it on the PGA or LPGA Tour, which ever is appropriate for your gender.

Would you rather...? #18:

Make a huge splash your very first year on tour. Winning an amazing 10 tournaments including 3 majors. From your second year onward you never make another cut. 

Or  

Play on the tour for 25 years. You win one tournament every other year, but no majors. You make the cut in half the tournaments you enter. Somehow you qualify for every major and make the cut in two majors each year but never win one. 

 

 

I'm not sure which is more of a grind though, 25 years on the tour or a lifetime of the press dogging you with hey, it's flash in the pan. If you don't love golf,  take the 1 great year, get out of golf, move onto something else.

[Darkfrog]

1 hour ago, Double Mocha Man said:

Modestly???  That's about $15 million without the endorsement deals.  Oh, you must mean a modest yacht and NetJet.

 

56 minutes ago, Double Mocha Man said:

Ha!  I went to St. Louis public schools.  We always add $3 million to anything when it comes to money.

 

58 minutes ago, ChetlovesMer said:

I'm not sure how modestly you'd have to live. By my math (Granted, I went to Chicago Public School, so math is pretty hard) You'd earn about 12 million dollars before you pay your caddie, and Uncle Sam gets his cut. 

Fair enough, guess I meant modestly by PGA Tour superstar standards, so maybe not a 155' yacht 😆

I went to Oakland Public Schools, but luckily I've always had a knack for math. Still pay someone to do my taxes though.

 

[iacas]

19 hours ago, ChetlovesMer said:

Let's imagine for a moment that you make it on the PGA or LPGA Tour, which ever is appropriate for your gender.

Would you rather...? #18:

Make a huge splash your very first year on tour. Winning an amazing 10 tournaments including 3 majors. From your second year onward you never make another cut. 

Or  

Play on the tour for 25 years. You win one tournament every other year, but no majors. You make the cut in half the tournaments you enter. Somehow you qualify for every major and make the cut in two majors each year but never win one. 

Especially if I knew ahead of time, but even if I didn't… number one.

I'd be a freaking legend. Nobody would forget me. And, I could retire early without having to tour around and live out of a suitcase for 25 years.

Good question.

[bkuehn1952]

20 hours ago, ChetlovesMer said:

Let's imagine for a moment that you make it on the PGA or LPGA Tour, which ever is appropriate for your gender.

Would you rather...? #18:

Make a huge splash your very first year on tour. Winning an amazing 10 tournaments including 3 majors. From your second year onward you never make another cut. 

Or  

Play on the tour for 25 years. You win one tournament every other year, but no majors. You make the cut in half the tournaments you enter. Somehow you qualify for every major and make the cut in two majors each year but never win one. 

Assuming I was a pro caliber player coming out of college, I think I would take #2.  A long career with some success fits me more than burning bright for a moment and then flaming out.  Plus, it would really be stressful to come back after that record year and miss every frickin' cut every year until you lost your playing privileges (5 years?).

 

Edited February 6, 2020 by iacas
please follow the rules

[Buckeyebowman]

5 hours ago, Double Mocha Man said:

Modestly???  That's about $15 million without the endorsement deals.  Oh, you must mean a modest yacht and NetJet.

 

Yes, but people seem to assume they would live the same way they do now, once they got a taste of the high life! Doesn't always work out that way. A lot of people develop expensive tastes even if they can't afford them! Do you have any idea what things really cost? You know the helicopter Kobe died in? It was a state of the art, $13 Million Sikorsky! 

5 hours ago, Darkfrog said:

#1 - I'll take the glory of three majors and ten wins in a season. I figure one season like that would earn me enough money to retire living modestly, and would also come with some sweet endorsement deals. Plus I would get to keep playing on the tour, at least for awhile...

Yes, for a while. And all that while wondering what the hell happened? Why can't I win anymore? Where did my game go? What do you mean I'm going to lose my card and have to go back to the Korn-Ferry Tour?! And let's not forget that endorsement contracts can be cancelled!

[ChetlovesMer]

On 2/5/2020 at 9:03 PM, ChetlovesMer said:

Let's imagine for a moment that you make it on the PGA or LPGA Tour, which ever is appropriate for your gender.

Would you rather...? #18:

Make a huge splash your very first year on tour. Winning an amazing 10 tournaments including 3 majors. From your second year onward you never make another cut. 

Or  

Play on the tour for 25 years. You win one tournament every other year, but no majors. You make the cut in half the tournaments you enter. Somehow you qualify for every major and make the cut in two majors each year but never win one. 

I definitely think that if I knew what was going to happen going in, then for me its a no-brainer. I'd take the first option. 3 majors in on year, plus all those other victories. If I knew I was going to be a flash in the pan, I could totally live with that. 

Having said that, I do think that even if I didn't know it ahead of time, I'd choose option 1. I like to think I'm a pretty good judge of my own abilities and I really think if I just "Didn't have it" anymore I'd be able to walk away and take up some new pursuits and enjoy looking back at my glory days, even if those glory days didn't last all that long. I don't think I'd be one of those guys that just hangs around trying to relight that old fire. Some folks might be really frustrated by remembering what they once were and just not able to perform at that level anymore. But I don't think I'm one of those folks. 

[klineka]

On 2/5/2020 at 9:03 PM, ChetlovesMer said:

Let's imagine for a moment that you make it on the PGA or LPGA Tour, which ever is appropriate for your gender.

Would you rather...? #18:

Make a huge splash your very first year on tour. Winning an amazing 10 tournaments including 3 majors. From your second year onward you never make another cut. 

Or  

Play on the tour for 25 years. You win one tournament every other year, but no majors. You make the cut in half the tournaments you enter. Somehow you qualify for every major and make the cut in two majors each year but never win one. 

Option 2 for me. I love playing and love competing so to be able to do that at the highest level for 25 years while winning 12 tournaments would be awesome and would result in me making more total money compared to one really really good season.

I think personally going from the very best on the planet to basically a nobody in one year would be hard for me to accept. I'd much rather just be a "Mr Consistent" type with a few wins sprinkled in here and there even if I wouldn't end up winning a major.

17 hours ago, Patch said:

The monetary value in today's pro golf is just to great to pass up. 

It's unlikely that the purses will go down over time though, good chances are they will continue to increase. Plus the total winnings over 25 years with 12-13 wins would easily surpass the winnings of one single 10 win season plus 0 made cuts in subsequent seasons.

[Double Mocha Man]

17 hours ago, Darkfrog said:

I went to Oakland Public Schools, but luckily I've always had a knack for math. Still pay someone to do my taxes though.

Doing your taxes isn't about math. It's about creative interpretation.

[Wally Fairway]

On 2/5/2020 at 9:03 PM, ChetlovesMer said:

Let's imagine for a moment that you make it on the PGA or LPGA Tour, which ever is appropriate for your gender.

Would you rather...? #18:

Make a huge splash your very first year on tour. Winning an amazing 10 tournaments including 3 majors. From your second year onward you never make another cut. 

Or  

Play on the tour for 25 years. You win one tournament every other year, but no majors. You make the cut in half the tournaments you enter. Somehow you qualify for every major and make the cut in two majors each year but never win one. 

So basically do I want to be Jordan Spieth or Rickie/Kuch, right?

As frustrating as it would be, I'd still take option #1.

 

[Buckeyebowman]

10 hours ago, Double Mocha Man said:

Doing your taxes isn't about math. It's about creative interpretation.

That's a point! I used to run sales routes driving my own vehicle. Now, we'd get a "car use" check every month to help cover expenses. But, it was way less than what was allowed on your tax return. But it was enough to cover my car payment. 

On the tax form where you'd take your deduction, the law says that you cannot deduct commute mileage. This means you can't deduct mileage from your home to your office, or to your first account. This came up at one of our sales meetings. Our manager said, "I know you all have an account located just a couple of miles from your house that you hit first! And another one the same distance that you hit last!" 

I wrote off 96-97% of my total mileage for the year, and the IRS never blinked! 

[iacas]

Would you rather...? #19:

Be able to play golf as well as you do now BOTH righty and lefty, for the rest of your life… or… Reduce your handicap by 25% relative to +4 (i.e. an 18 is 22 strokes away, so 5.5 strokes) for the rest of your life?

[Buckeyebowman]

54 minutes ago, iacas said:

Would you rather...? #19:

Be able to play golf as well as you do now BOTH righty and lefty, for the rest of your life… or… Reduce your handicap by 25% relative to +4 (i.e. an 18 is 22 strokes away, so 5.5 strokes) for the rest of your life?

This is easy, the second option. First of all I would not want to have to buy a second set of clubs just so I could play left handed. Plus, the first option would reduce my HI by nearly 3.5 strokes. 

[Double Mocha Man]

Would you rather...? #19:

Be able to play golf as well as you do now BOTH righty and lefty, for the rest of your life… or… Reduce your handicap by 25% relative to +4 (i.e. an 18 is 22 strokes away, so 5.5 strokes) for the rest of your life?

I'll go with #1 for those two times a year my ball is up against a tree and I need to swing opposite-handed.  Just kidding... #2.

[dagolfer18]

1 hour ago, iacas said:

Would you rather...? #19:

Be able to play golf as well as you do now BOTH righty and lefty, for the rest of your life… or… Reduce your handicap by 25% relative to +4 (i.e. an 18 is 22 strokes away, so 5.5 strokes) for the rest of your life?

Definitely option #2. That would make me about a 13.5 since I am a 19 right now. My handicap has unfortunately gone up due to these crap rounds I’ve been posting lately.

[ChetlovesMer]

1 hour ago, iacas said:

Would you rather...? #19:

Be able to play golf as well as you do now BOTH righty and lefty, for the rest of your life… or… Reduce your handicap by 25% relative to +4 (i.e. an 18 is 22 strokes away, so 5.5 strokes) for the rest of your life?

I could not care less if I EVER play left handed. (Except for maybe the left handed challenge to get a badge on this forum... but that only requires one swing.) So, I'll take option 2... But in reality I hope to do better than option 2.