Jason Day had a great day Sunday. Day shot a 62, winning the first round of the FedEx Cup, golf's version of the playoffs. Many casual sports fans may not realize that golf even has a playoff series, but they should take notice. When it comes to playoff pay, golf is light years ahead of other sports.
The golfer who wins the FedEx Cup gets $10 million. In all, the PGA Tour gives out more than $25 million to the top 30 golfers playing in the season's final event. Dead last in the FedEx Cup gets $175,000.
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Let's compare that to other major sports. The Stanley Cup champions each get around $150,000 for winning the Cup. So finishing dead last in golf gets you more money that hoisting the Cup; plus, your body doesn't get battered in the process.
The entire NBA prize pool for the league champion is $14 million. That averages to about $330,000 which is similar to what MLB pays out to World Series winners. Super Bowl champions gets a check near $100,000.
So to put this in perspective, the FedEx Cup winner will get 100 times more than Tom Brady and 30 times more than Steph Curry or Madison Bumgarner.
Here's the crazy thing: the numbers just mentioned only include the FedEx Cup bonuses. We haven't even talked about the tournament prize pool. Day won $1.5 million Sunday. The entire prize pool was $8.25 million. In total, the PGA Tour playoffs will hand out more than $50 million over the next month. That's more than the other major sports pay out combined.
Say whatever you want about golf and its playoff format. When players play for a title, ring or trophy, they should be paid accordingly. Golf got it right; let's hope other sports find ways to follow suit.
