Two of the leading players involved in the largest mass disciplinary action in PGA Tour history acknowledged they were guilty of purse-splitting.
"I'm as guilty as the next," Bob Charles, twice the leading money-winner on the Senior tour, said Thursday after completing first-round play in the PGA Seniors' Championship. "I didn't think anything was wrong with it at the time," Dave Stockton, a former U.S. Ryder Cup captain and 1993 Senior Player of the Year, said."We were just clowning around, wearing wigs and earrings, hitting exploding balls, trying to get the gallery into it."
Following a conversation with Tour commissioner Deane Beman, however, "I understand where Deane is coming from," Stockton said. "I was prepared to oppose him on this, but I understand now. I'll just pay the fine and put it behind me."
Purse-splitting, in which two or more players agree to pool prize winnings, was common in professional golf as late as the 1960s, but has been specifically banned on the pro tour for about 30 years.
Both Charles and Stockton were fined for purse-splitting at the Merrill Lynch Shoot-Out finals Dec. 5 near Miami.
Players in at least one other late-season, unofficial, made-for-television event also were fined earlier this week after an investigation into purse-splitting.
Stockton and Charles, using the same words, both said "a lot of players were involved." They declined to name them or to disclose a number.
One player, who asked that his name not be used, said 51 senior players were involved. Several players said the fines were $2,000 per infraction.
From his office in Ponte Vedra, Fla., Beman refused to mention names and declined to confirm that suspensions were involved.
He did confirm, however, the total number of players involved, and the total dollar amount of the fines is the most in Tour history.
In a prepared statement, Beman said, in part: "The previously announced inquiry into purse-splitting has been concluded to my satisfaction ... While instances of purse-splitting were confirmed in certain Senior PGA Tour unofficial events, the inquiry confirmed no such instance in any official Senior Tour event.
"I have taken appropriate disciplinary action with those Senior PGA Tour players involved. Consistent with my longstanding policy, the discipline imposed and the players involved will remain confidential."