Professional golf loves to revel in its numbers, but among the stats for driving distances, fairways hit, fewest putts and all the rest, there’s one number that sounds the sweetest of then all – the one on the prize cheque at the end of the week.
Total prize money at the US Masters at Augusta last week reached $20million for the first time, Scottie Scheffler pocketing a cool $3.6million in his green jacket, which should help decorate the nursery nicely. Rookie Ludvig Aberg collected $2.16million for coming in second, making his decision to leave the amateur ranks last year look pretty shrewd work.
But as we leaf through the pages of Golf Monthly we find that back when the Masters was starting out, the love of money really was seen as the root of all evil. In the June 1934 edition of the magazine, Charles Hall, former president of the Professional Golfers’ Association of America, was livid about the way in which the pursuit of cash was ruining the game.
“The boys have become so money mad and victory mad, they don’t care how they get the ball down, just so it goes down. They’ll kick, shove it, jab it – do anything.”
Mr. Hall really warmed to his theme after that, getting so carried away that Golf Monthly’s editor had to issue a disclaimer, distancing himself from his claims.
You can read more of the good stuff that Charles Hall to get off his chest by clicking here.
