OPINION: It pays to play good golf — Bezuidenhout eyeing another big payday

A sum of $25 million — or in Rand terms R445 million. That’s the amount of money the winner of this week’s Tour Championship on the PGA Tour in America will bank. It’s staggering. It’s mind-blowing. It’s sick.

That’s for winning one golf tournament. And it’s not even a full field that will tee it up at the season-ending event at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta. Only 30 players will be in action.

If you didn’t know, the final tournament of the last three events of the PGA Tour post-season, called the FedEx Cup playoffs, happens this weekend. Only the best players over the season get a chance to bank the huge sums of money on offer and call themselves the best golfer of the season.

We mustn’t forget these guys enter the FedEx Cup Playoffs having already earned big bucks throughout the season, with the two previous FedEx Cup tournaments, the St Jude Championship and BMW Championship also having inflated payouts to the players and limited fields.

In the first event, played two weekends ago, the 70 best golfers over the season teed it up, while this last weekend, at the second event, 50 golfers teed it up.

Bezuidenhout cashing in

And while much has been said and made of the big money that can be earned on the Saudi-backed LIV Golf Tour, there’s also plenty of cash going around on the PGA Tour – especially if you make it into these FedEx Cup post-season events.

One South African who’s been smiling all the way to the bank, irrespective of what happens at East Lake in the Tour Championship this weekend, is 30-year-old Christiaan Bezuidenhout.

While he may not have won a tournament on the PGA Tour this season, his consistent form allowed him to bank around $5 million (R90 million) before entering the playoffs two weeks ago.

At the first event, the St Jude Championship, Bezuidenhout finished tied for 22^nd for $175,500 (R3.1m) while at this last week’s BMW Championship he finished tied 33^rd for $119.667 (R2.1m).

The person who finishes 30^th, and in last place, at this week’s Tour Championship will earn $550,000 or R9.8 million – not a bad pay day at all.