Appearance Money in Professional Golf
No matter how great a player is and how deep his love is for the sport, his willingness to play somehow, is always conditioned with his lust for money. Golfers all over the world are offered lucrative and often under-the-table deals for their participation
in the different tournaments around the world.
Ernie Els, for instance, has lately become more of a globetrotter as a result of his deals with the sponsors. He is currently playing at the Ballantine’s Championship in Korea. Els, at the end of 2007 signed a three-year deal with the Singapore Open which
kept him from playing at the European Tour as the Volvo Championship was later moved to directly collide with the schedule of the Singapore Open.
"How can I say it?" Els said. "The end of the year, you've got the wheelbarrow out, too. You want to cash in a little bit."
As far as the moral perspective is concerned, many of the critics are of the opinion that there is nothing particularly wrong with the company’s signing deals with the players to participate in tournaments. Players active participation is precisely what
PGA’s agenda is, but things often go wayward when the players are disrespected and intimidated by the sponsors as was evident at number of occasions.
The PGA had to stiffen its regulations when the American automobile manufacturer, Ford, which was also the title sponsor of the event at Doral in 2004, offered $600,000 to four players to participate in Pro-Am with Ford dealers. A letter from IMG was later
revealed which offered a menu of players with their prices and other conditions.
Lee Westwood, who showed up at the Indonesian Masters and eventually won the tournament, was not there for mere sightseeing. Phil Mickelson regularly participates at the Barclays Scottish Open and Singapore Open, both of the events are sponsored by the Barclays
Bank and Mickelson always wears the name on his shirts.
Often called as “Appearance money”, the practice has become a regular feature of the sponsors to approach celebrated players with lucrative deals to participate in the tournaments. Tiger Woods had endorsement contracts with Buick and although he denies it
of being part of the deal, he always showed up to participate in the Buick Invitational. He played nine times in the Buick Open and no less than three times at the Buick Classic.
"America is doing what we've done for 20 years, and there's nothing wrong with it," said Chubby Chandler, Chairman of the International Sports Management. Chandler’s company manages top ranking players like Els, Westwood, Rory McIlroy, Louis Oosthuizen and
Charl Schwartzel. "Tournaments have to get players to commit early," Chandler added. "You can't sell tournaments on the hope a bunch of guys might enter on Friday night. It's just a way of getting players there. And they have to do something for it."
Ben Crane, Justin Rose, Camilo Villegas, Luke Donald, Graeme McDowell and Rickie Fowler are participating in the Zurich Classic this week, owning much to their contacts with the “insiders” in the multi-million-dollar insurance firm.
Many of the players regard it as a great way of doing business with the avaricious corporate world. The sponsors are often pitched in fierce competition with each other to bag in high ranking players which thereby offers the players an opportunity to exploit
the sponsors and get their terms and conditions approved.
Appearance money when traced in Asia becomes a whole new ball game with the sponsors making it prerequisite for the players to participate in luxurious dinners and cocktail parties apart from playing in their respective tournaments.
Golf has always been known to be the sport of gentlemen. What actions and deals can violate the moral and ethical code of the game can only be decided by the players themselves who are the only bastions of this splendid sport.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
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