WEALTH has become synonymous with Augusta National, where the chairman, Jackson Stephens, is reputed to be worth around $700 million. Yet he is by no means the richest in an establishment where two prominent members are reputed to have bet $50,000 each - about $250,000 at current values - on Ben Hogan to win the 1946 Masters. And they lost.
Augusta's wealthiest member is Omaha financier, Warren Buffett, who is said to be worth upwards of $10.5 billion. He once got down to a handicap of 13 and now plays infrequently off 22, though he has shared the fairways with President Clinton and his good friend Bill Gates, the chairman of Microsoft.
Clearly the leading professionals couldn't hope to match that sort of money. Indeed even the renowned sports agent, Mark McCormack, would be lagging some way behind, with reported wealth of $500 million while Karsten Solheim, the chairman of Ping, comes into the league at $350 million.
Jack Nicklaus, who was reduced to the brink of bankruptcy by the development of Muirfield Village, turned his fortunes around by restructuring his Golden Bear company during the 1980s. He is now reckoned to be worth $250 million. Next comes his old rival Arnold Palmer ($200 million), followed by Greg Norman ($60 million).
Palmer's success is quite remarkable, given that he won only $3.3 million in all his years on the professional tour and never more than $50,000 in a single event. He now has major interests in five car dealerships, an aviation services company and two country clubs - Latrobe and Bay Hill.
The world's six wealthiest golf enthusiasts are reputed to be: 1, The Sultan of Brunei worth $35 billion; 2, Japanese industrialist Yoshiaki Tsutsumi 57 billion; 3, Sheik Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum - $5 billion; 4, King Hassan II of Morocco - $1.5 billion; 5, Supermarket tycoon, Galen Weston - $1 billion; 6, Valderrama chairman, Jaime Ortiz Patino - $600 million.
Meanwhile, back at Augusta National, Stephens takes particular pride in the occasion when he birdied the 18th to shoot a level par gross 72 there - quite an achievement for a 14 handicapper. And, in common with most other wealthy members, his wagers on golf games are invariably modest a fact that clearly irked a certain high roller.
On being pestered to have a sizeable bet, Stephens is said to have offered to cut cards for his tormentor's entire fortune - more than $10 million. The man refused.
AN unlikely item due to be auctioned from the estate of the late Jackie Onassis at Sotheby's in New York in an auction starting on April 23rd, is a rather special set of golf clubs. A starting bid of $700 will be asked for the Ben Hogan Power Thrust irons and MacGregor woods. And they belonged to President John F Kennedy.
Interest in Kennedy's golfing skills will be further heightened by the forthcoming publication of the book Presidential Lies. In it, the author Shepard Campbell claims that "beyond question," JFK was the best golfer ever to inhabit the White House.
Apparently, he possessed a fluid, graceful swing, which he acquired when he was young, and often scored in the high 70s. But because his predecessor as US President, Dwight D Eisenhower, drew so much attention to his golf, JFK considered it prudent to keep his own proficiency at the game a secret.
Kennedy had his own, monogrammed golf clubs and bags with the lettering "JFK Washington DC." Incidentally, there is no indication as to the whereabouts of the set of clubs which the then Taoiseach, Sean Lemass, gave as a gift to Kennedy during an official visit to the White House.
CHARLIE YATES is a fine, southern gentleman, who has been looking after the media at the US Masters for as far back as any of us can remember. Now 82, he will be familiar to students of Irish golf as the player who beat Cecil Ewing in the final of the 1938 British Amateur tournament at Troon. But at Augusta National, he is revered for his friendship with Bobby Jones, spanning half a century.
They frequently played together at the East Lake club in Atlanta in the years after Jones's retirement from major competition. "For a willy-rock, which is what we called a dollar, Bob and his father would compete against me and a Methodist preacher named Pierce Harris," he recalls.
Yates goes on: "Bob was a quiet man but his father was an extrovert who could use some colourful language. One day, on the 16th hole, the Colonel topped a drive 150 yards into a bunker, took two to get out, found another bunker and three putted for an eight. After each stroke, he voiced loudly some choice words.
"Meanwhile, Bob, on his way to a 64, one shot off his own course record, made a birdie three to close us out. Walking over to the 17th tee, the preacher said to me in a voice loud enough to be heard by the Colonel and Bob Charlie, we should have known we could not compete today against such a combination of proficiency and profanity.
DAVID FEHERTY was on the CBS commentary team for the Bell South Classic in Atlanta last weekend. And if commentator Gary McCord had his way, the Ulsterman would be a permanent fixture in the lineup, given the enforced exile of Ben Wright for an amazing outburst about women's golf. The Englishman is not expected to return, even though he will remain on the CBS payroll for the next four years.
According to McCord, Feherty is so quick to learn and intelligent the he has "probably more talent for this business than anybody who's ever come up. The main appeal of the Ulsterman is that he would allow McCord to be slightly more conservative, so bridging the gap left by Wright's departure.
Either way, Feherty scuppered the network's plans when he decided to return to tournament golf this season, splitting his activities between the European Tour and limited appearances on sponsors' invitations in the US. CBS insiders secretly welcomed the possibility of Feherty being an even looser cannon than McCord. Given that McCord is currently banned from Augusta, however, it was generally felt that Feherty's chances of surviving the Masters would have been extremely slim.
TEASER: Here's a situation that would be familiar to regular competitors at Augusta. A player plays his second shot over a water hazard into a bunker behind the green. He skulls his third shot and the ball comes to rest in the water hazard. The ball is not playable. What are the player's options?
ANSWER: The player may, under penalty of one stroke: (a) drop a ball behind the water hazard, keeping the point at which the original ball last crossed the hazard margin between the hole and the spot on which the bail is dropped (Rule 26-1b). This procedure would probably make it necessary for the player to return to the tee side of the hazard and play over the hazard again; or (b) drop a ball in the bunker at the spot where his second shot came to rest (Rule 26-1a).
