Maginnes: In big-bucks world, winning a major is priceless

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AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Today I want to put forth a premise without diminishing the accomplishments of the game's most recent major champions.

Trevor Immelman will need big muscles to lift the hefty amount of cash his Masters victory will bring. (Cannon/Getty Images)

Players like Zach Johnson, Padraig Harrington, Angel Cabrera and, most recently, Trevor Immelman have earned the right to be known as major champions. Each beat the best players in the game on its grandest stages and will rightfully go down in history.

It can be argued that the game never been so global, the fields so strong or the domination of one player so overwhelming, which makes winning a major that much more difficult. But today's major championship hopefuls have an advantage that few of their brethren can claim. This advantage needs to be explained in historical perspective to be fully understood.

Until a decade ago, playing on the PGA TOUR with relative success meant that a player made a good living. But, a good living and amassing wealth are two different things. There were four tournaments every year from the mid-1960s through the late 1990s that meant more than the trophy and the title to win -- winning meant the potential for real wealth. Certainly winning a major now has an even greater financial impact than it ever did before, but it is important to remember that every week the players are playing for nearly $1 million for first.

In other words, with the increase in purses on the PGA TOUR, the players whose names rarely get mentioned are accumulating considerable wealth. There will be more than 100 players on the PGA TOUR make more than $1 million in prize money in 2008.

It has been said that today's players are spoiled and, in some ways, it would be hard to argue. But, that doesn't mean they're soft. Playing for money is the very definition of professional. The size of the purse doesn't change the definition. What we are seeing is that there are a lot of professionals now who have the game to win big tournaments and the knowledge to know that winning won't fundamentally change their lives.

Getting to the PGA TOUR and staying there for a few years now changes people's lives. Brandt Snedeker has made nearly $4 million in a little less than 16 months as a member of the PGA TOUR. That does not include endorsement dollars or bonuses. I would hate to guess what you can add to that, but I feel comfortable in saying that he gets more for wearing a shirt than most of us get paid all year. In the culture that we live in, that is perfectly acceptable and my judgment is actually in favor of big money.

Smaller purses often meant the stakes were higher in Arnold Palmer's day. (Redington/Getty Images)

For players like Brandt and Trevor, there is enough pressure in trying to take down Tiger Woods -- and each other -- to try to win a major. Not having to worry about how that major is going to change your life actually brings back some purity to the effort. Most of us don't know the difference between $4 million and $40 million and will never have to worry about it. When all the players have enough money, no player has that financial advantage that certainly has existed in the past.

If you don't think yesterdays players worried about money and making a living, I am living proof that they did. Some had more than others to start with but simply making a cut 12 years ago didn't cover a week's expenses.

With things being different now and the playing field, at least financially, being a little more level in terms of creature comfort, players can and do concentrate on what they consider to be the most important aspect of the game -- and that is winning major championships.

It will never be easy to win a major and it shouldn't be. The look in Trevor's eyes after the final putt went in was relief and exhaustion. Elation came after he finally exhaled. If he is smart with his money, he will never have to worry about how to pay the bills again for the rest of his life. But that was true last week, too.

Years ago, the conversation the week following a major used to be about what it was worth to a player financially to win. Those conversations are long gone now. They are irrelevant and that is a good thing. It is easy to talk about there being too much money in sports. But one of the arguments, at least in individual sports, is that if there is enough money for everyone then the game actually becomes less about money.

When money was taken out of the equation, today's players had one less thing to worry about. I am not saying that these newest major champions would not have won in a different era. What I am saying is that winning didn't fundamentally change their private lives. Of course their professional lives have been transformed forever. Regardless, they are to be congratulated because in the end they have accomplished something money can't buy. They have won a major championship and that is priceless.