Questions About PGA Tour Living

[TheWookie]

i had a friend that played on tour and he had a very significant individual sponsorship form a very significant hollywood personality. You see the guys on the Nationwide, Q school, etc....they all have backers beyond equipment and apparel endorsements. You see a lot of top local talent that is sponsored (until they make it big) by a gorup of members at the local club. the costs of entry is huge and game is a very small part. Q school is around 4500 entry fee.

as far as tour...cars, food, most amentities are covered..airfare and hotel are usually taken care of by the players management company. Most , even B players have a management company at that level.

[Matsui]

It is all great that they have people booking everything for them, but I wonder how much that costs. I couldn't imagine any airline company giving deals for just the PGA Tour. I dont' think they are big enough. Heck, that would just fill one plane.

Also, I wonder if certain PGA Tour stops pay for certain players to play.

[k14]

that sounds really dodgy at best. Not saying it isnt true but the guy is throwing away money unless he definately feels its improving his performance. I was under the impression that a lot of the guys dont even need to stay in hotels because familys will either rent out their house to them or just let them stay for free on or near the golf course. Also, I distinctly remember John Daly talking about donating like 30k to a scholarship fund for a guys family who got killed by a lightning strike when he won the PGA at crooked stick. I believe he mentioned back then it was around 30k to play the tour with all the travel expenses and such. I cant imagine any of these low level guys are spending more than 50-60k on Travel. Im sure they have deals.

Yeah dunno, I have no way to back it up just going on what he told me. I haven't chartered a plane lately but they have to cost a fair chunk??

[treebound]

I found this FAQ page for the eGolf tour, lots of interesting info and answers some of the OP's questions relative to a smaller Pro Tour:

http://www.egolfprofessionaltour.com/faq

There is also a purse payout page showing what the top players gross in winnings based on a full field.

[alf174]

Remember when Zach Johnson won the Masters back in '07? I remember a TV show documenting how a bunch of his hometown friends put up money for him to get started and live while he was on tour.

[pittpanther]

I'm not talking about the top 50 players in the world, hell, not even the guys who have ever won on the PGA Tour, but the guys who constantly stay in the top 125 on the money list, make a decent living, miss a few cuts year, you normal guy who will get a top ten but then miss a few cuts, etc.

I don't know if there's any one guy you can point to that fits your description (never wins, but manages to stay on the tour every year by being top-150 on money list). But let's imagine a golfer who manages to do that. Looking at last year, that golfer would have earned about $600,000 in tour winnings.

Because he manages to stay on the tour every year, he WILL have several sponsors. All his golf equipment will be free. He will get paid by his sponsors to do TV commercials, print/magazine ads, etc. If he's really scrambling for money, he could do appearances at corporate events. His management company (IMG?) would be responsible for finding his sponsors, setting up appearances, coordinating his commercials and magazine shoots, etc. For that they probably take at least 10% of his outside earnings. I'm sure that he could negotiate that the management company take on additional responsibilities (hotel arrangements, personal car and driver to/from the course, travel arrangements) but out course they will take a higher percentage. This golfer could even have the management company deal with his tax witholdings - companies like IMG have accountants on staff. They would also be able to offer advice on insurance. So even the lowest man on the top-150 money list will earn over a million dollars per year, in winnings and endorsements. Subtract 20% for taxes, subtract another 10-20% for management fees and all expenses. Take home at least half a mil free and clear?

[treebound]

...

I could live on that, for at least 10 years 8-). Now I just have to shave several dozen shots off my game, consistently. I think I'd better go back to reading "The golf of your dreams". 'scuse me ....

[kpaulhus]

I don't know if there's any one guy you can point to that fits your description (never wins, but manages to stay on the tour every year by being top-150 on money list).

Tim Clark fit that bill up until recently.....

[Woters]

Darren Clarke thought he had missed a cut at one of this years legs of the European Tour & so had flown home. On the flight he found out his score was good enough for the weekend. On arrival at the UK he had to charter a plane back to Spain which cost in excess of £10,000 ($14,500 btw) out of his OWN pocket.
Mr Clarke has lots of sponsorships, deals & companies but still cost him money to go back. I admit it WAS his fault for leaving early but just goes to show the expenses that could occur & more importantly how much cash is available if that outlay was cost effective enough for him to fly back!!

Read about it here

[Stretch]

Subtract 20% for taxes.

In which universe? Or IMG has

really good accountants!

[pittpanther]

In which universe? Or IMG has

You do know how Marginal tax rates work (in the US)?

[Stretch]

You do know how Marginal tax rates work (in the US)?

Yes, thank you. And if your hypothetical man really has net income of around a million a year, he's going to be looking at an effective rate of well over 20%. Not to mention the pleasure of owing state taxes separately in every jurisdiction where he tees it up and makes any money.

[hacker_khan]

PGA tour pros make about $400k from ball endorsement contract as soon as they get their tour card. This pays for most of their expenses for the season.
The rest is pure income.

[bshack]

PGA tour pros make about $400k from ball endorsement contract as soon as they get their tour card. This pays for most of their expenses for the season.

that would make sense... If you make it to that level and can stick there for a few years your living a pretty damn good life... thats just a ball endorsement. Nevermind the apparel and other sponserships they will gather. I bet most rope in near 500K in endorsements alone.

[Bigtank]

The PGA estimates that travel and living expenses @ $150,000 a year. You must provide the tour with proof that you indeed have at least that much capitial to "survive". Indeed many times they are sponsored by clubs, hometown businesses, or individuals. Many of the more heralded amatuers are giving endorsement contracts right out of the gate...i.e. Rickie Fowler. My college roomate is current member of the PGA tour, and he worked out an arrangement with some local busniess men to aquire the necessary funding for that first year. He paid nothing for his equipment, clothing, balls, shoes or club work; this was all provided onsite from his club/clothing/ball sponsers. Now that he has gained a small bit of notarity he has a much better rub with the sponsers. I don't ask for numbers, but he makes roughly 3 to 4 times his tour winnings (PGA money list thats was 1.5 mil) in sponsorship dollars, corporate speaking events, etc.
As far as travel they have several tour staffers that handle all travel. Much of the living arrangements are actually secured by the actual tournament hosts. Airfare, is fairly "inexpensiive" because they do have special rates, to get that littel tag line you hear on TV "the official airline of the PGA tour". However, many of those guys fly private for the convienience (7k-10k), and they go as a group 4 or five of them. I know when my roomie was getting started, some of the more affluent guys let him tag along on their tride for a deeply discounted rate, because most of them understand what it was like. Then they sometimes hop those corporate rides for free. I think most of those guys fly commerical when going oversees.
Let me say this, with the amount of toys / 2nd homes / vacations he takes to only work 20 or so events a year, he is not hurting in ANY WAY SHAPE OR FORM!

[srjorion]

I met one of the player's wives here at the Zurich while following a group and she was trying to make airline reservations for Sunday evening after the tournament using her iPhone. The following Monday morning the winner, Jason Bohn, was on my flight and didn't receive an assigned seat until boarding time. I'm guessing he made a last minute reservation and was on standby.

I know some of the more successful players use fractional ownerships like NetJets. I'm not sure if any of the lower tier players do the same.

[aznando]

Besides public speaking gigs, don't these players make a decent amount on PRO-AM events?

Aznando

[alf174]

Besides public speaking gigs, don't these players make a decent amount on PRO-AM events?

I believe its primarily for charity.