'I Made 5K This Week And I'm Going Home With Less Money In My Pocket Than When I Started' - Tour Pro Reveals

The life of a Tour pro can be tough. Along with travel, accommodation, food and living costs, there is also the pressure of performing. A run of bad results not only affects how much money you make but also has an impact on your career, with world ranking and order of merit points determining how successful you are.

If you reach the top Tours you can make seriously good money. However, the journey to reach them can be a tough one, with good golf along the way not always being rewarded by a large pay cheque.

At the Korn Ferry Tour's Veritex Bank Championship, Grayson Murray produced rounds of 68, 66, 66 and 69 for a 15-under-par tournament total, some seven shots back of eventual winner, Tyson Alexander. Finishing in a tie for 26th, the American took to Twitter to reveal his earnings for the week, claiming that he actually lost money for his time.

"Played in the KFT event this week and shot rounds of 68, 66, 66, 69……going home with less money in my pocket than I started the week. Practice hard kids if you want to make golf your living."

Murray then went on to reveal his expenses for the week, stating: "Hotel was $1300, airfare was 1k, caddie was $1900, rental car was $700. throw in a $300-$400 for food. I made 5k…..take out taxes from the 5k."

Murray isn't the only one, just a few weeks ago, Scott Hend revealed that he has lost $50,000 in 2022 alone, with nine missed cuts from nine starts to show for it.

It is also the case on the LPGA Tour, with Major winner, Danielle Kang, stating: "I made $6,000 last week (JTCB Classic), made the cut; I didn't break even last week. That's me budgeting. I have to drive, rent a car, get a hotel room. Luckily enough for me I'm sponsored by BMW that provides for me the car. That saves like $500, $1000 etc. We have to think about all these things."

Hannah Gregg, who plays on the LPGA's development Epson Tour, admits that she knows of too many good players who have been forced to give up the game due to a lack of financial stability, adding that it is not uncommon for players to qualify for events and subsequently withdraw because they cannot afford the flight.

“Lots of girls stop playing because they can’t afford Q-School, which is the most expensive event of the year.” she says. “If you don’t play in that then you have no Tour status and are left with very few events to play in. You get phased out and others just lap you.”