Columnist Peter Benton: ‘Unofficial’ earnings boost bankrolls

Peter Benton

Wednesday, March 8, 2000 | 9:33 a.m.

Peter Benton's golf column appears Wednesday.

The money that is available to top world-class golfers is staggering, although nowhere near the astronomical and outlandish amounts being paid to not only so-called "stars" but also to many also-rans in other sports.

However, "official" money in golf has dramatically increased over the past couple of years -- and there is much to be made that is not included in official earnings.

Tiger Woods clinched the Palm Performance Award, presented by Palm Inc., with his 4 and 3 victory over Shigeki Maruyama in the third round of the recent Andersen Consulting Match Play Championship.

The Palm Performance Award is presented to the player who earns the most cumulative points in the nine events that make up the PGA Tour's West Coast swing.

For amassing the most points, Woods was presented with the Palm Performance Award, which includes a $200,000 bonus and a Palm VII hand-held computer.

Jesper Parnevik, winner of the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, and Nissan Open champion Kirk Triplett were the only players with a chance to catch Woods in the late going.

Parnevik was eliminated from contention with his 2 and 1 loss to Scott Hoch while Triplett was eliminated with Woods' victory over Maruyama.

* BOLD AND DARREN: Darren Clarke, the winner of the aforementioned Andersen Consulting Match Play Championship in a head-to-head battle with Woods, now has a leg up toward becoming the second recipient of the Andersen Consulting Medal.

This award is presented each year to the player who earns the most aggregate money in the World Golf Championships.

Woods, the world's No. 1 player and leading money winner in last year's World Golf Championships, was the first recipient of the medal. In addition, he was awarded $250,000.

Woods won two of the three 1999 World Golf Championships events, the NEC Invitational in August and the American Express Championship in November, both of which offered a $1 million first prize. He was a quarterfinalist in the Andersen Consulting Match Play Championship last February, earning $150,000.

The top 10 finishers for last year's Andersen Consulting Medal were: Woods, $2,150,000; Jeff Maggert, $1,182,500; Phil Mickelson, $617,250; Nick Price, $554,167; Andrew Magee, $500,000; John Huston, $470,000; Miguel Jiminez, $455,333; Steve Pate, $439,250; Craig Parry, $430,300; and Maruyama, $329,000.