Why do golf pros give to charity?

Do not be caught up in the glossy image of the US PGA Tour's charity act. Professional golfers are not giving to charity because they soley want to. They are giving to charity because it makes them look good to the public and offers them a tax break. Given a choice, professional golfers would rather give to charity rather than give their money to the United States government.

Ask yourself, would professional golfers and the US PGA Tour give as much to charity if their tournament purses continued to drop year over year? I do not think so. I think they do it to benefit themselves not solely for the charities they are giving their "hard-earned" money to.

Let us look where the money goes to. In a $6 million purse tournament, $6 million goes to the 144 players (size of field for a regular tournament) playing in the tournament. Only $500,000 to $750,000 goes to a charity selected by the tournament. The lion share goes to the professional golfers, not the charities. So it is false marketing to say "giving to charities" is at the heart of the US PGA Tour. Earning money is at the heart of the US PGA Tour.

Giving to charity is just a side bar. The US PGA Tour and professional golfers are out to earn more and more moeny -- not less and less money. They are not playing golf just to make themselves feel good. Earning money for themselves is at the hear of the US PGA Tour and its members. There is nothing wrong with that attitude for the most part. However, do not makret falsely.

Plus the "Drive to a Billion" marketing campaign is not talking about money the US PGA Tour has given to charity. It is talking about tournaments which the US PGA Tour sanctioned. Those tournaments provided the money to the charities, not the US PGA Tour itself. The US PGA Tour actually charges the tournament a $1 million fee to be sanctioned by them. This fee goes to pay the salaries of the men and women working at the US PGA Tour.