Tiger Woods vs. Rory McIlroy: Challenge Matches Are Still Alive and Well in 2012

By
at Internationaled.org

Published: October 29, 2012

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Almost 160 years ago, the likes of Old Tom Morris, Young Tom Morris and Willie Park Sr. used to earn virtually all of their money through “challenge” or money matches set up by wealthy individuals looking for a bit of entertainment while holidaying along the Scottish Coast.

And 80 years ago, the likes of Walter Hagen, Gene Sarazen, Bobby Jones, Sam Snead, etc. used to travel the world over to participate in highly lucrative money matches. Players like Hagen and Sarazen essentially made their living through these international money matches while the likes of Snead, Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer, etc. used these matches to pad their bank accounts with guaranteed earnings during the PGA Tour’s offseason.

Fast forward to the year 2012, and little has changed in terms of money matches organized by incredibly wealthy individuals.

Sure, corporations, real estate developers and powerful sports and entertainment companies have now replaced wealthy Dukes in terms of those providing the financial backing for these challenge matches.

Players now swoop into town on their private jets, collect a cool $3 million for showing up to a money match and then hightail it out of town before the sun has even set. That is a far cry from the days of Hagen and Sarazen taking weeks just to reach some of the remote locations of their matches.   

Television networks, commercial rights, lawyers, managers, publicists, etc. all play major roles in these modern day challenge matches as well.

But, the general principle behind these matches is the same today as it was 160 years ago. If you shell out enough money, you can more or less create any professional golfing competition you want.

It took a reported $3 million from a wealthy Chinese real estate magnate to make it happen, but yesterday the top two players in the world faced off in an 18-hole challenge match in Zhengzhou, China.

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Article Source: Bleacher Report - Golf

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