Where 45-Year-Old Golf Pros Go to Keep On Grinding [WSJ]

[nevets88]

http://www.wsj.com/articles/where-45-year-old-golf-pros-go-to-keep-on-grinding-1426292115

So this is one place where men of a certain age get ready for the Champions Tour. I thought it was just a placeholder for those with name recognition, kind of like the senior tennis tour. You really gotta love golf (or hate being a cubicle jockey) to do this.

Quote:

Most of the Champions Tour spots are reserved, understandably from a business perspective, for the big-name Tour pros fans want to see. These days it usually takes between $10 million and $11 million in career earnings to qualify for Champions Tour events on that basis. (Finishing in the top 30 on the previous year’s money list also gets you in.) Pros like McCallister, 56, and Edwards, 63, who did most of their winning before PGA Tour purses ballooned around the turn of the century, caught the short end of the stick. McCallister’s five wins, between 1988 and 1993, were worth $684,000 combined. His career earnings, including from the 78 Champions Tour events he’s managed to get into since 2008, sits right at $6 million. Other pros with bad career-timing include Chip Beck (three Ryder Cup teams) and Steve Jones, eight wins including the 1996 U.S. Open.

...

Claxton is eager to try for the Champions Tour, but knows it is a long shot. “It’s a closed shop. They don’t want no-names like me out there playing. They want people who sell tickets, and I understand that,” he said. “But that’s the thing about this game. You think you ought to quit, and then you start playing good enough, and you say, ‘Well, maybe,’ and before you know it you’ve been doing it for 20 years. And I love it.”