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How much does it cost to maintain a professional golfers lifestyle?

arwin

arwin

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I was just looking at the PGA & LPGA money list from 2013 and you get to the players that aren't so good, they are only taking in 50K-100K in tournament winnings.

Since they aren't as good, we can assume that they probably aren't being paid by any sponsors. And if they attend 20 events, we can imagine how the fees start to add up. For example: Flights, hotels, car rental, gas, caddies cut, etc. So I'm wondering...are these players even making any money?!

How much money does the player have to win in tournament winnings in order to take home a 6 figure salary?

That seems kind of sad to me that you can make it to the top level of golf and still not make a good living from it!
 
I would imagine that being a pro golfer would be pretty close to the rest of the world. Very few get stinking rich or make a ton & are getting by.
The top CEO's, sales people, doctors, etc....... Make more than the average in those fields.
Again, just my thought process.


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How much does it cost to maintain a professional golfers lifestyle?

This could be out of date. But about 3 years ago a tour caddie told me his guy needed to make at least 500 to 600 K to maintain what would be considered an above average lifestyle. Not luxurious but not cutting coupons to get by.
 
There is a lot more to it than that.
First off, nobody on the PGA Tour that has a card is only making 100k a year.

Now the LPGA is a different story. But housing is done differently, Pro-Ams offer some compensation, etc.
 
i would think even the bottom touring guys get 'some' sponsorship.
 
The top 125 PGA Tour players can make a good living, but the top male golfers certainly spend hundreds of thousand of dollars in travel and other job expenses. Unlike other sports, there is no guaranteed money. How many tour players can stay on tour for a decade or two without losing their card?

It's pretty sad how little the LPGA golfers make. Only the top 40 on the LPGA tour make it into the 1,500,000 households in the U.S. that make up the top 1%. The 100th best female golfer in the world only made $52,701 last year. The 100th best female tennis player in the world has already made that much in 2014 after only 7 weeks. I'm not even one of the best 100 sales people in my company and had an income more than that my first year out of college.
 
Yea, the LPGA numbers are pretty bleak.
 
Hawk said:
Yea, the LPGA numbers are pretty bleak.
Click to expand...

Agreed, totally different ballgame than PGA both on and off the course
 
Sponsorships. May not be big money, but they all have sponsors. A kid I coached had $100000 from Titleist day one. He then had $75000 in sponsorships from local people for three years. His expenses were thereby covered for each year except for a caddie. Anyway, not a million, but he was covered.
 
mikedean441 said:
Agreed, totally different ballgame than PGA both on and off the course
Click to expand...

I agree. Women's sports will never command the same money as men's events due to the lack of spectator interest/money, but it's odd that LPGA players make so much less than female tennis players.
 
I don't know what the costs are for playing in the US, but to play a full season on the Asian tour, for travel. fees and expenses is a minimum of $150,000US. Most players don't break even on tour winnings. They need sponsors.
 
Looking at Ian Poulters Twitter and Instagram posts, I assume the dude is bringing in way more then I could possible imaging.
 
fupresti said:
Looking at Ian Poulters Twitter and Instagram posts, I assume the dude is bringing in way more then I could possible imaging.
Click to expand...

Sponsorship fees certainly help pay the bills.

I do wish the LPGA had more popularity and purse sizes for those ladies. The bottom 10% on the PGA tour money list every year are still millionaires once you factor in winnings and sponsorship dollars. That's not the case at all for the LPGA.

Let's not even get into Web.com vs Futures Tour.
 
You need to stay in the top 125 to keep your PGA Tour card, unless you win an event - which carries an extra 2 year - 10 year for majors - extension. So yeah. Once you earn your card either thru top 25 on the development tour, or Q School, you need to make a bunch of money to keep it.
 
Interesting. I guess most on the PGA tour make a pretty good living as long as they keep their card.

I guess I was shocked when I saw the numbers for the LPGA. Like someone else mentioned, if you are on the LPGA and you didn't break the top 100, you would be making roughly 50K from tournament winnings.
Let's just assume that the best female players in the world are playing the LPGA and if you were the 100th best woman in the world, you would be making only 50K in tournament winnings! Let's hope they get some decent sponsorship deals!

Any one have any ideas on how much an average player would get in sponsorship? I totally don't have a clue at all.
 
arwin said:
Interesting. I guess most on the PGA tour make a pretty good living as long as they keep their card.

I guess I was shocked when I saw the numbers for the LPGA. Like someone else mentioned, if you are on the LPGA and you didn't break the top 100, you would be making roughly 50K from tournament winnings.
Let's just assume that the best female players in the world are playing the LPGA and if you were the 100th best woman in the world, you would be making only 50K in tournament winnings! Let's hope they get some decent sponsorship deals!

Any one have any ideas on how much an average player would get in sponsorship? I totally don't have a clue at all.
Click to expand...


That's still more than I make... Of course I don't those kind of travel expenses.
 
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