FedEx Cup money is not an annuity...

[Brocktoon]

So I just heard them explain how the $35M from FedEx gets distributed to the players and it appears to be even stupider than I had ever imagined.

Its not an annuity, its retirement money paid into a deferred compensation program and it is put into the deferred comp account in FULL at the end of the points race.

Here's the crazy part, to me anyway. The players cannot touch this money until BOTH of the following things happen:
-they turn 45
- they stop playing on the PGA/Champions Tour regularly.

So, they are basically going to be paying out tens of millions of dollars to the players upfront, BUT they will only allow the players to receive the money if they quit the tour or play an extremely limited schedule. How stupid is that?

Take a guy like Vijay, if he wins why would he continue playing or even consider ever playing a Champions Tour event when he's got 10 million coming to him that he can't get at unless he stops playing professional golf? If you start to imagine how much Tiger will amass in this account by the time he hits 45 and the position he'll be in it gets even sillier.

I really don't get it. And the fact that FedEx is actually putting up all the money upfront makes it even dumber. Why not just give it to the players to do with as they please?

[black knight]

If that's true, then it is so retarded and bad for golf. What if some rookie had a career (and record) year, won a tonne of tournies and eventually took the cup...he'd be super pissed about having to wait.

However, people like tiger probably don't REALLY care since the money won't affect them very much...BUT, I'm sure they'd obviously prefer it up front since they may use it for charity or whatever.

[tuq]

Ugh, it can't be that stupid. Can. Not.

[FireStorm]

Granted, this is stupid, but it is unlikely anyone will retire as a result of having won the FedEx Cup to get at the money. You would already have had to have won $5m+ in order to win the Cup, and would have plenty of money-making opportunities in years to come. Thus, no one would retire immediately and I can't imagine anyone making a huge deal about having to wait, as they will be flush with earnings already.

[Brocktoon]

Fire,

You have to realize that by the time a lot of guys hit 45 that $10M could easily be upwards of $40M depending on how they allocate it and so forth. I don't care who you are, or if you made a killing back when you were in your 20's, $40M is a TON of money to anybody, especially when you can't have ANY of it until you retire.

Will it drive a lot of 45 year olds into retirement who would/could have been major factors on the PGA Tour? Maybe not, though it could. What it will definitely do however, is kill the Champions tour entirely.

FWIW, Jack Nicklaus was 46 when he won his last major, the Masters in '86. Food for thought.

[tuq]

[ QUOTE ]
FWIW, Jack Nicklaus was 46 when he won his last major, the Masters in '86. Food for thought.

[/ QUOTE ]
That, and other geezers have competed in majors around 50. I know Julius Boros nearly won the '73 (?) Open at Oakmont, and I think Ben Hogan and Sam Snead both fared well in at least one major around 50.

Just give them the money now. Damn.

EDIT: looking at his wiki, Boros actually won the 1968 PGA at the age of 48, so was 53 when he finished T7 in 1973, although he was in contention down the stretch.

[JTrout]

I'm wondering if we haven't been tricked?

In past years, large sums of money have been put into the retirement fund of fully vested (and partially vested) tour players.
The amount of money depended on how well the player played, and other variables such as: did you play in more events this year than last year.
I don't know if the sum of all this money totalled $35 million, but it wouldn't surprise me.

Has the tour found a way to get a new sponsor (fedex) out of money they've been distributing in the past?

Is this $35m the total sum of retirement money going into these 150 players retirement fund?
If so, nothing has been added to the tour, just reshuffled.

As to the retiring at 45 thing,
it's been that way for a long time, and the amount of money these players will get when they do decide to retire would shock and amaze, I'm sure.

[Hey_Porter]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm wondering if we haven't been tricked?

In past years, large sums of money have been put into the retirement fund of fully vested (and partially vested) tour players.
The amount of money depended on how well the player played, and other variables such as: did you play in more events this year than last year.
I don't know if the sum of all this money totalled $35 million, but it wouldn't surprise me.

Has the tour found a way to get a new sponsor (fedex) out of money they've been distributing in the past?

Is this $35m the total sum of retirement money going into these 150 players retirement fund?
If so, nothing has been added to the tour, just reshuffled.

As to the retiring at 45 thing,
it's been that way for a long time, and the amount of money these players will get when they do decide to retire would shock and amaze, I'm sure.

[/ QUOTE ]

JTrout,
Could you explain this? The PGA Tour actually has some form of retirement package? How does it work? Does everyone get a bit?

[JTrout]

yes, they have a great retirement package.
I can't tell you exactly how it works.
When you make 50 cuts as a member of the PGA, you become partially vested.
100 cuts=fully vested.

[Weir]

if ryan moore wins, should he go play the euro tour and the majors and take the 10 million now?