OAKMONT, Pa. — News that the first prize for the U.S. Open winner is $4.3 million certainly had Jack Nicklaus and Johnny Miller sit up and take notice. But it did not seem to make them envious. In fact, they seemed to take a certain delight in the amount of prize money available in professional golf today.
“Would I have loved to have had what’s going on here [large purses] when we played? Yeah. Obviously, all of us would,” Nicklaus said Saturday morning at rainy Oakmont Country Club. “But I also was really pleased that … I know Johnny and myself both trail-blazed the way for what’s happening today. I think if you look back at [Ben] Hogan and [Sam] Snead and those guys, they trail-blazed it for us.”
As past winners of U.S. Opens at Oakmont—Nicklaus in 1962 and Miller in 1973—the two men shared the podium for a bit of reminiscing about how they handled Oakmont, which in their day was sometimes referred to as “the Ugly Monster.”
The USGA happened to announce the prize money for this week’s 125th U.S. Open as the Hall of Famers were sitting down. The total purse is $21.5 million. The top four finishers each will earn more than $1 million and every professional who failed to make the cut receives a $10,000 stipend.
Nicklaus, 85, has a little more direct experience with the escalation of prize money in golf. Two weeks ago, he hosted the 50th edition of his Memorial Tournament, a $20 million PGA Tour signature event sponsored by Workday. Scottie Scheffler took home $4 million for his second straight win at Muirfield Village Golf Club.
When Nicklaus beat Arnold Palmer in a playoff in 1962 for his first professional win, he earned $17,500. Miller’s 1973 come-from-behind victory, when he closed with a record 63, was worth $35,000.
“Yeah, when you won, the lesser tournaments were like $20,000 and good tournaments was $25,000 for first place, and the bigger ones were $30,000 in our era,” said Miller, who not only won a U.S. Open but for years also was the mainstay analyst for NBC Sports on U.S. Open broadcasts.
“We had to win tournaments to make a name [and] to make a living. Today, they make a living playing golf,” said Nicklaus, who won four U.S. Open titles.
“The big difference is the guys make so much money that, what do you think? It helps that you’re hungry and playing hard,” Miller, 78, said. “It used to be you had to make some money to be able to take care of your wife and maybe child or whatever, and it made golf more of a competitive thing and guys would play more tournaments because they’re trying to make it while they can.”
Nicklaus, whose career earnings totaled $5.7 million after 73 PGA Tour titles, including a record 18 major championships, said that playing for more prize money wouldn’t have changed his life. He has said in the past how he played for trophies. Endorsements and other off-the-course business pursuits are where he made the lion’s share (or Golden Bear’s share) of his income.
“Actually, I don’t think it would have made any difference,” he said. “Would it have changed our lives? I would hope not. I would hope that we probably would try to live our life very similar. I’ve enjoyed what I’ve done. I’ve loved playing the game of golf. I’ve loved my design work. I love being involved with being able to take and utilize what I have to be able to in charity and helping others.
“They’re all things that I don’t think that would have made any difference, whether we were playing for what we played for or what they’re playing here today. If we would have had the ability to do this, I think we would have tried to do the same thing.”
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This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
