7 ways the golf world was different in 1992

Before the 100th PGA Championship, Bellerive Country Club in St. Louis last hosted the PGA Championship in 1992.

Since then, much has changed, ranging from the size of the purses at tournaments to the clothing worn by PGA Tour players to the careers of some of the top golfers currently on the Tour.

Here are seven surprising ways in which the golf world was different in 1992.

Tiger Woods had played in one PGA Tour event

Tiger was just 16 years old when he played in the Nissan Los Angeles Open in March 1992.

In his first PGA Tour event, he shot 72-75, missing the cut at 5-over. Since then: 79 PGA Tour wins and 14 majors.

The hair. The mustaches. The clothes.

Where do we even start with this one? Let's just say that players' clothing, fashion and haircuts have changed quite a bit in the last 26 years.

John Daly (pictured above talking to Jack Nicklaus) and Corey Pavin (below) both rocked the mustache/mullet combo.

Greg Norman's wide-brimmed hat (below) enjoyed a brief, but memorable run. Shirt patterns, worn by fans and players, were ambitious, too. Vertical and horizontal stripes on the same shirt? Why not.

Red, blue and green designs together? Go for it. Virtually no color combination or pattern was off limits.

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The purses

In 1992, the PGA Championship purse was $1.6 million with $280,000 going to winner Nick Price. Last year, the purse at the 99th PGA Championship was $10.5 million and winner Justin Thomas (above) took home $1.89 million.

There was a three-way tie for second last year at Quail Hollow but the allotment for the runner-up was $1.134 million, which means an outright second-place finisher would earn 70 percent of what the entire field won in 1992.

International players dominated the Official World Golf Rankings

In the final week of the 1992 season, Nick Faldo (above, with Fanny Sunesson) was ranked No. 1 in the world and five of the top six players in the OWGR were from Europe, Australia or Africa.

Fred Couples was ranked No. 2, followed by Ian Woosnam, Jose Olazabal, Greg Norman and Bernhard Langer.

As of August 5, 2018, three of the top four players in the world are American as Dustin Johnson, Justin Thomas and Brooks Koepka are ranked No. 1, No. 2 and No. 4.

Three of the current top 10 players in the world weren't born yet

We're talking about No. 2 Justin Thomas, No. 7 Jon Rahm (above) and No. 8 Jordan Spieth.

Thomas wasn't born until April 1993, followed by Spieth in July '93 and Rahm in November 1994.

The U.S. was in the midst of winning consecutive Ryder Cups

At face value, it may not sound impressive to win back-to-back Ryder Cups but the U.S. hasn't done it since the Americans won in 1991 and 1993. Since '93, Europe is 8-3 against the U.S., preventing the Americans from winning multiple in a row.

The 1991 Ryder Cup is remembered as "The War at the Shore," when Bernhard Langer missed a six-foot putt on the final hole at Kiawah Island Golf Resort to give the U.S. a 14.5-13.5 win and its first victory since 1983.

The Americans won 15-13 at The Belfry in 1993.

The technology

Remember when the thickness of TVs often exceeded the size of the screen? Just look at that monitor behind Johnny Miller and Charlie Jones during the 53rd Senior PGA Championship.

With the popularity of podcasts, it may be hard to imagine that all those wires and buttons you see below were necessary to conduct and broadcast interviews. Sure, TV and radio at their core are largely the same as they were in 1992 but the devices used to cover and consume golf have drastically changed. You can see for yourself here by downloading the free PGA Championship app.

 

(Photos: PGA of America archives)

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