Quote:
Originally Posted by Rapscallion St Croix
Kite was the first in Tour history to reach $6 million, $7 million, $8 million, and $9 million in career earnings, and that is an irrelevant statistic?
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Yes. Purses have grown exponentially beginning back te 80s. A friend of mine won the 1974 Kemper Open. It was one of the highest purses of the era. His first place prize money was $50,0000. How many tournaments would a player have had to win in 1974 to get to $6 million? In 1988, Curtis Strange was the first player to win $1 million in a year. And if I'm not mistaken he had to win the big season-endingTour Championship which almost doubled his earnings for the year. Today a player wins a minor event and wins more than anyone before 1988 won in an entire season. But even that million dollars was deceptive when you consider that half of it came from one tournament.
Money winnings are irrelevant unless they are adjusted and I don't know how they even can be adjusted for today's tour.
Again, my friend, Bob Menne, 1974 Kemper Open Champion won more money in his career than Ben Hogan. Where would you rank Bob Menne compared to Ben Hogan.
Greg Chalmers has won more than double what Jack Nicklaus won in his career.
If you look at the list of most money won in a career, the top 59 are current players. Jack Nicklaus, the greatest golfer in history is number 261 on that list.
Career earnings are a meaningless statistic.