However, the Wanganui Chronicle's golfing tragic John Maslin stopped by my desk this week with an interesting take on the true value of a golfer's success, bringing with him the February edition of Golf Digest - one of the Bibles of the game.
In a thoughtful piece on Tiger Woods' legacy for golf - bringing a new generation of true athletes to the fore who play for massive purses thanks to increased sponsorship - the magazine ranked the top 50 earners in the sport.
Using considerably more insider information than mainstream sports media through interviews with agents, industry analysts, and company executives who sponsor golfers, the list compiled had perhaps the most accurate estimates of "off-course" earnings yet constructed.
These come from hawking sponsor products, corporate bonuses for all the positive press which comes from winning, and the incomes made from speaking engagements, licensing fees (like appearing in video games), book sales, designing courses and any product lines carrying your name like clothing, wine and even turfgrass.
Don't think for one moment that ANZ Bank wasn't delighted when Ko dived into the lake after winning the ANA Inspiration tournament on Monday with their logo emblazoned on her soaked purple polo shirt.
Factor all that in with Ko's place as the top woman in the sport compared with Lee's position as a good hand, and Golf Digest estimated that there is only around US$65,000 between them - Ko making just over US$5.3 million when all factors are added together, Lee just under US$5.36 million.
What brings Ko back into the reckoning is being women's world No1 lets her court an estimated US$1.5 million in "off course" earnings, well ahead of Lee's still impressive US$850,000.
Ko likely went ahead of him this week and climbed into the mid-40s of that top 50 list after her ANA Inspiration victory made it back-to-back major titles, and added another US$390,000 to the kitty.
Still, there is no question if Ko wants to keep her place on top of the Aotearoa perch in turns of cash in hand, then it all depends on the steadiness of her grip and clearness of her eye.
Lee, to be our top earner, just needs to have a decent finish in the PGA men's pack at most events. Ko has to win.
A key reason the champions are able to court such extra coin - Jordan Spieth made an estimated US$30m off course alone in 2015 - is the social media arena has now opened up for golfers to do a little sports marketing.
John Mascatello, whose public relations group has Jason Day and Rickie Fowler for clients, says the explosion of the sport's popularity in the wake of Tiger Woods means that as well as the usual insurance companies and banks, they can court the cool brands like Red Bull energy drinks - whose target audience were not previously in the golf demographic.
"Now with social media you can have a corporate relationship without wearing a logo or showing up at a golf outing," said Mascatello.
"Like Rickie and Mercedes are doing some digital things together, but with no logo on him."
Another client manager, Mark Steinberg, said the new generation of golfer can connect their fans with eager sponsors through social media with just a few taps on their smartphones. "It's their way of life," he said.
"Companies now ask, 'What is your following; will you be willing to tweet X amount of times for our brand?' etc.
"Those were not the questions being asked in the 90s. Times have changed, and the next generation has evolved with that change."
For the record, Lydia Ko has more than 39,000 'followers' on her Twitter account.
So does the intelligent young lady use that platform to hawk a few wares? A quick check of her page on Thursday evening did not show a typical teenager talking about plans for dinner or being excited about going out this weekend. "Very proud to be a Rolex ambassador alongside the greats and legends! #TeamRolex," was the top post.
That a way, girl. Go make that bank.
