It is common practice, in spite of official denials. Tiger Woods in his heyday reputedly charged $3 million to appear in certain events. Now one of the new golden boys of the sport is reaping similar rewards as the “lesser” tournaments attempt to attract top global stars.
According to a Reuters report. Jordan Spieth is being paid US$1 million just to tee up in this week’s Australian Open in Sydney. That is more than the tournament’s total purse of 1.25 million Australian dollars (around US$945,000).
Spieth has won the event two out of the past three years, was joint runner-up with Adam Scott in 2015, and is clearly a sufficiently important drawcard to justify the fee. Jason Day is said to be receiving a similar fee, and several other players smaller fees.
"We’ve basically sold out of corporate hospitality and Jordan’s announcement really helped that," Golf Australia chief executive Stephen Pitt told Reuters. "And pre-sales of tickets are much more advanced of last year.
"We operate in a market where appearance fees are required to attract the best players in the world, particularly international players, and we are in the same boat as a large number of tournaments around the world.
"For the world’s top players, there are now so many playing opportunities and the schedule is crowded, so many tournaments have had to adapt to stay competitive."
