One of the avowed objectives of European Tour executive director Ken Schofield has been that the minimum return in prize money for the top 100 in the Order of Merit, would be £100,000 sterling. And now that the latter end of the list has been finalised for the season, the indications are that there is still some way to go.
As it happened, Germany's Sven Struver finished in 100th place with £86,670. And the closest player to the magic figure was South Africa's Andrew McLardy in 91st place with £101,283. Still, one would think the European Tour campaigners would be happy with their lot. Instead, Struver is aiming for the US Tour and has just led the second stage of the Qualifying School there.
At current rates, £100,000 equates to about $145,000. And to have earned that sort of money on the US Tour this year, a player had to finish only 175th in the money list. And the man in 100th position? Billy Mayfair came away with $466,345, which is hardly surprising on a tour where the average weekly purse is $3 million.
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