Arnold Palmer: Sept 10, 1929 – Sept 25, 2016
“I sometimes think that I would have had a better life had I been born fifty years earlier, when the stakes were not so high and the game was more carefree.
The professionals of the 1920’s mostly earned their livings working at some country club; the tour was just a side issue which gave them a chance to break their routine, test their skill and perhaps pick up some extra cash.
Even as recently as 1942, a year’s total prize money was less than the two hundred thousand dollars now offered for a single tournament.
The pros spent most of the year at home; during the tournament season they would go away for a week to play, then return home for a couple of weeks before leaving for another tournament. On the average, there were only about thirty-five to forty players to compete for the prize money.
— Arnold Palmer (1963)
Related posts: