Amateur Golfers Have Left Millions On The Table
Amateur golfers have left $2.9 million on the table during major championships the last ten years. Should the USGA do something about it?
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Today At A Glance:
Amateur golfers have had to turn down $2.9 million in winnings during major championships over the last ten years. The U.S. Open has seen the most amateurs compete and has had the most money earned over the last decade. Should the USGA look at changing its policy with regard to major championships?
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Hey Golfers —
Over the last ten years — amateurs have competed 251 times in three of golf’s major championships. The U.S. Open has seen a majority of amateur appearances of the three majors resulting in 57% of the 251 appearances.
U.S. Open — 143
Masters — 58
Open Championship — 50
Throughout the last ten years — the U.S. Open has consistently seen 10% of its 156 competitors as amateurs.
While the Masters averages six amateur competitors per year, fields in the Masters are typically around 90 golfers — meaning 7% of competitors are amateurs.
And the Open Championship averages five amateur golfers in its field of 156 — resulting in 3% of the field playing as amateurs.
The most amateurs appearing in one of the three major championship fields was the 2018 U.S. Open, with 20 amateur competitors. The least amount of amateurs in a major championship in the last ten years was two competitors at the 2016 Open Championship.
Amateur golfers competed 32 times in the three majors in 2023 — the most in the last ten years.
U.S. Open — 19
Masters — 7
Open Championship 6
In the last ten years — amateur golfers have played well enough to win an aggregate of $2.9 million in the three major championships. But they have had to turn down the prize money due to the USGA’s rules around amateur golf.
An amateur playing in a scratch competition can accept any prize, including money, up to $1,000 for an event.
An amateur playing in a handicap competition cannot accept money as a prize but may accept a prize with a value of up to $1,000 for an event.
If amateur golfers were allowed to accept prize money in the 2023 major championships, they would have collected $468,000 — which would have been the third-highest amount in the last ten years.
The highest amount in the last ten years was in 2015 at $947,000 — bolstered by amateurs playing well enough to earn $717,000 in the Open Championship. Three amateurs finished inside the top 15, and five made the cut.
Amateur golfers would have earned the most at the U.S. Open in the last ten years at $1.29 million.
U.S. Open — $1.29 million
Open Championship — $953,000
Masters — $670,000
The Open Championship amateurs would have won the most money per golfer in the last ten years.
Open Championship — $19,000
Masters — $11,550
U.S. Open — $9,040
To arrive at the above numbers — we divided the total winnings of each major over the last ten years by the number of amateurs competing in the event in the previous ten years.
The biggest would-be payday for an amateur golfer in the last ten years was Jordan Niebrugge at the 2015 Open Championship, where he finished tied for sixth. If he were a professional — he would have collected $307,000.
Should the USGA alter its rule for amateurs in major championships to win prize money that exceeds $1,000?
The USGA has changed the amateur side of golf by updating its Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) policy for collegiate golfers. In 2021 — the USGA updated its policy to allow collegiate golfers to earn NIL money. And we have seen plenty of NIL in major championships over the last two years. Amateur golfers have been sporting logos of hometown companies to capture ‘endorsement money’.
NIL is tricky for many reasons — but the golf world is particularly interesting. There is a grey area in NIL for international students due to the F-1 Student Visa. And golf has a high number of international students participating in men’s and women’s golf.
Division I Women’s Golf — 32%
Division I Men’s Golf — 19%
Around a quarter of Division I golfers cannot legally accept NIL money.
College athletes make money hosting camps in their hometowns during their offseason. For example — a college basketball player will host a camp in their hometown during the summer and earn instruction fees from the camp.
College golfers are not allowed to be compensated for providing individual or group lessons. However — a college golfer can earn money teaching golf as a Teaching Assistant in an educational setting.
To put it in simpler terms.
College athletes can:
Accept NIL money
Earn money from hosting camps
College golfers can:
Accept NIL money
The USGA allowing amateur golfers to win money in major championships could be an alternate income stream for amateurs — specifically collegiate golfers. But do they need to do it? Absolutely not. Would it be beneficial for international collegiate golfers? Of course.
For the USGA to even get this on its radar, there would need to be a study completed that stated international students are no longer attending and competing in collegiate golf in the United States — which would ultimately make collegiate golf in the United States less competitive.
But even then — is it a USGA issue or an F-1 Student Visa issue?
Bobby Jones would be rolling in his grave with his 13 major championships as an amateur if the rules were changed that ultimately allowed amateurs to win money in major championships.
While $2.9 million over the last ten years is a significant amount of money — and should be noted. I believe the USGA should stay the course it is currently on. The average payout for the 251 appearances would be a little over $11,000 — a lot of money for a college athlete. But in the grand scheme — not enough to move the needle.
Have yourself a great Monday. Talk to you next week!
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The $1000 cap on cash winnings in majors needs to be increased. Consider the cost of hotel rooms during these events, the ever-increasing cost of air travel, etc. and that figure is wholly inadequate. Amateurs shouldn’t have to take a financial loss to compete in a major!