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In his first professional tournament, the Los Angeles Open, he was a co-favorite with Palmer and Gary Player. Nicklaus tied for 50th and took home a purse of $33.33. Not until last week did he manage his first tournament victory. But he has finished in the money in all 18 tournaments he has entered, ranks third in money winnings behind Palmer and Littler, and with the 1962 pro tour only half over, he has already earned almost twice as much money ($43,198) as any other rookie in history. Bonuses, royalties and endorsements resulting from last week's U.S. Open victory could swell Nicklaus' income by $250,000—making him, at 22, one of the world's highest-paid athletes. Unless the prospect bores him, Jack can reasonably expect to have made a million by the time he is 25.
Everybody's Business. Today's pro golfer is part showman, part TV personality, part salesman, a walking Chamber of Commerce for the fastest-growing sport in the U.S. Baseball and football may still be the great spectator sports, but athletes of all ages can-and do-play golf. This year, according to the National Golf Foundation, 6,000,000 Americans will take club in hand to play more than 90 million rounds of golf on 6,718 U.S. golf courses, most of them public courses or semiprivate clubs that charge a daily fee. The rich man's game of yesterday is now everybody's $1 billion-a-year business, selling 8,000,000 golf clubs, 69 million golf balls, 700,000 golf bags and anything else, from wooden tees (10¢ a package) to electric golf carts (about $600), that a golf-mad U.S. public could possibly want.
When the pros play, so many people want to see how it is done that officials are talking of limiting the galleries to keep them in hand. More than 72,000 fans showed up for last week's Open—25,000 more than the old Open record. And with the swelling crowds comes big money. Ten years ago, Julius Boros took home $4,000 for winning the Open; last week Nicklaus won $15,000, plus an "unofficial" bonus of $2,500 for the playoff. Such is the excitement generated by big-money pro tournaments that publicity-minded business firms are getting into the act. Next September, at Akron's Firestone Country Club, Nicklaus, Palmer and two other golfers will perform in front of TV cameras in the most exclusive four-man tournament ever staged; the winner will get $50,000, second place will be worth $15,000, third and fourth $5,000 apiece. The sponsors: a radio-TV firm and a manufacturer of refrigerators.