Atlanta resident Billy Andrade won four times during his career on the PGA Tour. He is beginning to compete again in anticipation of his 50th birthday in January, when he becomes eligible for the Champions Tour. Andrade played in the 1991 Tour Championship in Pinehurst, N.C., and cashed a check for $46,466 when he tied for 13th. He recalls how it felt to win his first big paycheck on Tour.
After I turned pro, I did a couple of pro-ams and got paid for it. I thought, “This is great.” In college you just play. Then I played in tournaments and made some money. It’s pretty cool.
Winning money is like a drug. You make your first big paycheck, and you want more. You win, and you want more. You just want to keep going and going.
I remember my first big paycheck. I didn’t win Westchester that year, but I played with two of the best players in the world at the time (Fred Couples and Paul Azinger), and I played well and beat them on Sunday. I don’t remember how much I won (he won $35,125 at the 1989 Westchester Classic), but that showed me I was good enough to play out here and keep going. It was like a bell went off in my head. I knew I could do it.
But you’re not satisfied. You want more. I won in Las Vegas in 2000, won $765,000, and you know what, I wanted to win again the next week. After you win, you want to win again.
(Andrade said he never went to the ATM and checked his bank balance, but “I’m sure some of them do.”)
That’s what the players in Atlanta want at the Tour Championship — all of them. They want to win the money. They might say it’s not about the money, but when they get to East Lake, it is all about the money.
To beat them and make a big check, it’s like … wow. That’s what it’s all about. Winning and having more money to support your family and take care of them.
But you can’t think about the money while you’re playing. If any player is worried about money, you’ve got him beat. You’ve got to play the game. You can’t worry about the money. Once you start thinking about money, you start getting protective, and you start screwing up.
