Throwback Blog: Golf Absolutely Needs To Show Payouts On Screen So We Know How Many Hundreds Of Thousands Of Dollars Each Putt Is Worth

*Originally published 4/9/2018*

I don't talk about it much, but I'm a golf fan. Casual golf fan, but I still follow it and enjoy it. I particularly enjoy the strategy and psychology behind why golfers hit different shots/use different clubs in different situations. Kinda reminds me of poker how you can decide to be aggressive in certain situations, or passive, all depending on how you're standing and what your opponents are doing.

But anyways, while I was watching the Masters on Sunday, all I wanted to know were how much these guys could win or lose with each putt. When Spieth was surging, when Ricky was putting, when Cameron Smith came out of nowhere and shot a -6 on Sunday to finish at 9 under for the tournament, all I could think about were the five and six-figure swings each way that every putt was worth. I wanted them to show the payouts on the screen, and make it a point of the broadcast that these guys are playing for big money. Think about the drama if they advertised and promoted this type of thing. "Rory is lining up this putt for birdie, if he sinks it, he moves up to 4th and wins an additional $140,000, but if he misses it and Bubba hits his, he drops to 6th and loses $100k instead". Shit like that is fascinating.

To use the poker analogy again, they give you the payout structure once registration is closed in a tournament. It completely changes how some people play. Some people just want to grind pay jump, while other people play only to win. And once you're at the final table, where the pay jumps are HUGE, some people play scared while other people are gunning for only 1st place. You know the difference between finishing 5th or 6th, 2nd or 4th, are massive amounts of money. Psychologically speaking, most people can't help but think about it. Would be the same in golf. The added pressure would be great theater.

Here's the Masters top 4 payouts:

Talking hundreds of thousands of dollars on the line if a guy 2 putts! Everyone would enjoy seeing this implemented into the broadcast. Nothing like the devastation when your guy shoots one into the woods on 17 and you know what it's going to cost him.

The money is being paid out regardless, might as well start talking about it. Fun little fix to make tournaments more interesting to the casual sports fan when Tiger isn't playing. No brainer.