Sir Bob Charles does not have a problem with appearance money being used to entice golfing phenomenon Tiger Woods to Paraparaumu Beach.
Although New Zealand's golfing knight said the $US2 million ($4.7 million) touted to have Woods headline the resurrection of the New Zealand PGA Championship in January was a "vast
sum," appearance fees were nothing new in the sport.
"I doubt I would have gone to places like Japan if there hadn't been enticements there ... I think it has a lot of merit," said Charles, who was in Wellington yesterday to award AMP New Zealand Golf Foundation scholarships carrying his name.
Charles, who won the NZ PGA title in 1961, 1979 and 1980, was hedging his bets when asked whether he thought Woods' reported fee was value for money or could be spent more wisely elsewhere.
The PlusFore company seeking to resurrect the championship have until the end of the month to come up with half the sum.
"I think golf in New Zealand is ticking along nicely and whether it needs a shot in the arm like that, I'm reluctant to say," Charles said. "It does make you wonder if it could be spent better on a worthy charity.
"But that's the private enterprise world we live in, so good luck to them.
"I'd just like to think the resurrection of the tournament doesn't rest solely on Woods playing, but that seems like the idea at this stage."
Wellington greenkeeper John Haley, who is the course superintendent at Petone's Shandon club, and Dunedin PGA trainee Shelley Duncan, were presented with scholarships at the private function.
Charles has donated 1 per cent of his US senior tour earnings to the Golf Foundation, which has awarded the scholarships to up-and-comers across all areas of the golf industry for more than a decade.
- NZPA
