There is a basic armored car-load of money that will be handed out Sunday at East Lake.
In case you were curious, here’s how it breaks down:
THE TOP TEN:
1. $15,000,000; 2. $5,000,000; 3. $4,000,000; 4. $3,000,000; 5. $2,500,000; 6. $1,900,000; 7. $1,300,000; 8. $1,100,000; 9. $950,000; 10. $830,000.
THE NEXT TEN:
11. $750,000; 12. $705,000; 13. $660,000; 14. $620,000; 15. $595,000; 16. $570,000; 17. $550,000; 18. $535,000; 19. $520,000; 20. $505,000.
THE LAST TEN:
21. $490,000; 22. $478,000; 23. $466,000; 24. $456,000; 25. $445,000; 26. $435,000; 27. $425,000; 28. $415,000; 29. $405,000; 30. $395,000.
Here’s your little mind-boggling factoid: Jack Nicklaus’ career earnings on the regular PGA Tour — $5,723,192.
Here’s another mind-boggling factoid: Members of last year’s winning Super Bowl team in the NFL received — $118,000 each.
So maybe that gives you a little better grasp of what’s being handed out at East Lake.
Which brings us to the East Lake anchor man — Jason Kokrak. Kokrak birdied the 18th (72nd hole) at the BMW last week and his 68 got him the lucky 30th spot — which translates to a birdie that was worth minimally — $395,000.
On the other end of the spectrum — J.T. Poston bogeyed the 18th hole at Medinah and that dropped him OUT of the 30th spot, all the way to 32nd. So basically, for J.T., that was minimally at $395,000 bogey.
Yikes!
So yes, even though the PGA Tour has rigged this East Lake deal heavily in favor of the top guys, the lower tier fellas can grind it out knowing that if they can finish in the top 20, they are staring at a half-million dollar payday.
Not bad for four days work.
A final factoid — in the NFL, a five-year veteran’s minimum salary last year was $790,000.
And not one of those 30 guys at East Lake has to be tackled.
