Throwback Thursday: Watson breaks PGA Tour money landmark
The Background
Tom Watson headed into the World Series of Golf having already won six events on the PGA Tour adding to his Open championship title (pictured above) from earlier in the year.
The 30 year-old was looking to become the leading money winner on the PGA Tour for the fourth consecutive year with Jack Nicklaus the only player in with a chance of catching him.
The Scene
Watson opened up with a round of 65 at Firestone but a second round of 75 gave the field a chance.
Unfortunately for Nicklaus, he pulled a back muscle on the range forcing him to withdraw and ending any sort of hope for an end of season title tilt.
Watson bounced back regardless, shooting two more 65’s in his third and fourth rounds to win the event by two strokes.
The victory meant Watson became the first player to win over $500,000 in prize money in a single season on tour.
The Legacy
The prize money Watson won back in 1980 (equivalent to £2.3m in today’s money) is peanuts compared to what is on offer to the modern day tour player.
The majority of winners on the PGA Tour can win over $1 million for just a single tournament on the schedule with a handful of events offering less than that.
A great example of the inflation in prize money is 2017 Open runner-up Matt Kuchar.
The 39-year-old has never won a major title throughout his career but seven wins on tour and plenty of high placed finishes have seen him earn over a whopping $40 million in career earnings.
A remarkable feat!
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Matthew Beedle
Matthew has been playing golf since he was around 13 and took up the game at a local nine-hole municipal course with his friends before joining Pontefract & District Golf Club just over the hedge.
Still a member of Pontefract with a handicap of 3, he currently sits on the board of directors to help with digital and marketing initiatives in order to improve membership and visitor income.
Matthew graduated university with a First Class in Sports Journalism from Leeds Trinity University and has been working in the golf industry since graduating.
NCG’s social media & marketing manager, Matthew’s main job role is to increase website traffic to the National Club Golfer website via our email and social media channels as well as driving entries to grow our NCG Top 100s Tour events amongst other tasks.
Not one to change his equipment too often, Matthew currently plays the TaylorMade M2 driver which has lasted the test of time in his bag. Elsewhere, you’ll find him using the TaylorMade Stealth 2 three-wood with a Ping G425 Crossover 2-iron to aid his long game.
Through his 4-iron to Gap Wedge, Matthew uses the Ping i500 irons accompanied by Ping’s Glide 3.0 56-degree and 60-degree wedges.
Another club that has stood the test of time in his bag is a Nike Method Core MC-3i putter which has had to have the SuperStroke grip changed at least three times. Ball of choice is the Titleist ProV1.
