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Rory McIlroy won $15 million this past weekend. He finished first in the FedEx Cup standings. $15 million for a single golf tournament victory is amazing. Sure, you could argue that he won that amount over a series of tournaments, but in actuality those tournament finishes just got him into the playoff.
Second place was worth $5 million won by Xander Schauffle. In a normal week, the second place finisher gets 60% of the winner’s share. Eight players received over a million dollars and ninth place was worth $900,000.
The purse for the tournament was $60 million. The last place finishers, Dustin Johnson and Lucas Glover, received $400,000. Gary Woodland finished in the middle of the pack at #15 and won $595,000.
What most fans do not know is that players who were not even in the final tournament (only the top 30 got in the championship) and who finished the season ranked #126 – #150 each received $70,000. To be clear, this was paid to players who did not make the FedEx playoffs at all.
Should this bother us? That much money for one event to the winner may seem a bit absurd. Well, at least in golf, the individual player has to earn the money. Failure to play well throughout the year keeps one from some good paychecks and from participating in the championship.
Of the top ten highest-paid athletes, the following seven get their money contractually, no matter how they perform:
James Harden (NBA) – $46.6 million
Stephen Curry (NBA) – $47.3 million
Andrew Luck (NFL) – $50 million (Just yesterday, he retired from football due to injuries)
Kevin Durant (NBA) – $60.6 million
Lionel Messi (Soccer) – $80 million
LeBron James (NBA) – $86.2 million
Cristiano Ronaldo (Soccer) – $93 million
The three who get paid due to each performance (except for endorsements) are:
Lewis Hamilton (Race car driver) – $46 million
Rory McIlroy (Golfer) – $65 million
Roger Federer (Tennis) – $64 million
Those of us who are working stiffs probably consider these numbers outrageous. However, it is a little harder to begrudge those athletes their money if they truly need to earn it by their performance for that year.
I’ll quit now and get ready for this week’s football game. After all, I need to earn my money, too.
ABOVE THE EARS (SOME MUSINGS)
- In the blog, I mentioned that Andrew Luck retired on Sunday from NFL football. The Indianapolis Colts were set to pay him $50 million this season. Luck said he is constantly in so much pain that he just cannot continue to play without risking his future. The Colts announced, despite being legally allowed to recoup $24.8 million from him, they will not do so. He can keep it all.
- The Eagles looked rather dismal in their pre-season matchup against the Ravens, but I do not put much stock in pre-season games, so, Eagles fans, don’t start worrying just yet. I did think that Josh McCown looked pretty good coming out of retirement. He was 17-24 for 192 yards and two touchdowns. Not bad.
- Oh, those Phillies! They just lost two of three to the lowly Marlins and are 7-9 for the season. One of those losses occurred when they were leading 7-0. They lost 19-11. Their wild card chances are getting dimmer and dimmer and when you watch them, you cannot truly believe they deserve to be in the playoffs.
- I watched Villanova handle the Patriot League’s football favorite with relative ease. This does not bode well for the league and for Lafayette. The Leopards open their season this Saturday in Williamsburg, Virginia against William & Mary. Like Villanova, W&M is, also in the CAA. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:00pm and the game can be seen at FLOFOOTBALL.com. Go Leopards!
- Bethlehem Catholic takes on Freedom in our Friday night game LIVE at 7:00pm. Both are coming off good wins, but neither saw a team as talented as this week’s opponent. If you can’t get to the game, tune us in on RCN-TV.
