Money, Money, Money…… Money
Thanks to allCarry’s Q-school post, I took a quick look at who was playing for their cards this year, and I was surprised to see well-established PGA pros like Briny Baird and Frank Lickliter having to fight to stay on the tour. And when I looked at some of their stats, I was not sure whether to have any sympathy.
Baird, as you can see here, made over $620,000 in 2005, but that left him #126 on the money list. As a sign of how much money is now to be made on the PGA tour, consider that 20 years ago, nobody on the tour made over $600,000, and even 10 years ago, Baird’s take from 2005 would have placed him in the top 30 on the money list. Indeed, just five years ago, $620,000 would have placed in the top 75. But now Baird, after making more playing golf in 2005 than most people make in their lifetime, has to go fight for his card again.
Lickliter, as you can see here, is a similar story: he made nearly $500,000 in 2005, but just barely cracked the top 150 on the money list. What I find fascinating is that Lickliter, while now fighting for his card, is already in the top 70 in career earning (full list here), which places him nearly 50 spots ahead of Jack Nicklaus!
Nicklaus still has Baird beat in career earnings… until Briny makes another $6,000. Nicklaus dropped out of the top 100 in career money recently; Arnold Palmer and Gary Player are no longer in the top 250. Ryan Palmer, however, made nearly as much money in 2005 (by finishing 60th on the money list) as Arnie made throughout his career.
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