At Least 50 PGA Seniors Fined for Purse Splitting

About 50 Senior PGA Tour players, including Dave Stockton, last year’s player of the year, are a little poorer today after acknowledging their involvement in splitting prize money at non-tour events last year.

Each player was fined at least $2,000 for the schemes at such events as the Merrill Lynch Shootout at Miami and a made-for-television hole-in-one competition.

In announcing the penalties, Commissioner Deane Beman would not say which events and which players were involved, or the total amount of fines levied. He did say no regular tour events were involved and indicated that fines totaled about $100,000.

Jim Dent and Bob Charles, two-time senior player of the year, joined Stockton in admitting they were involved Friday.

“The Merrill Lynch Shootout last December was one of them,” Stockton said. “There was a purse of $400,000 and 10 golfers were playing. We didn’t think there was a problem at the time.

“But I can’t really argue with Deane. I don’t intend to appeal the fine.”

Isao Aoki, Jim Colbert, Bruce Crampton, Mike Hill, Miller Barber, George Archer, Larry Laoretti, Billy Casper and Charles also were in that event.

Other pre-tournament shootouts reportedly also were involved in violating the tour rule against splitting purses.

“We didn’t think we were doing anything wrong,” Dent said. “After all, they weren’t tour events. And, it didn’t affect the way anybody played. We always go out and play our best.”

Larry Ziegler, admitting to nothing, said, “This wasn’t like a regular tournament. It was just an exhibition to entertain the fans. Guys were talking when another was putting. And they were walking in putting lines and doing all sorts of things to distract. These things are never done during regular events.

“They won’t be done either to Deane when he comes out on our tour, but that doesn’t mean we’ll all be glad to see him.”

Lee Trevino, who was not involved, said that was simply an accident.

“I always want to be just one of the guys,” he said. “If they had wanted to split up the purse in a shootout, I probably would have gone along. I would have been fined, too. I realize it is wrong, but I still probably would have done it.”

In the early days of the regular tour, when purses were small and the tour was not organized, players traveling together often split purses.

According to Jack Nicklaus, that stopped about 1963 after he, Gary Player and Arnold Palmer were told they would all get the same amount in a World Series of Golf, no matter who won.

“I won it and after the event, I thought it was wrong,” Nicklaus said. “So did Arnie and Gary. The next year Arnie was on the policy board and he got it changed so there was no more purse splitting.”

Beman, who will be leaving the commissioner’s job to play on the senior tour, refused, as is his custom, to comment on whether there were suspensions.