How Greg Norman made $800,000 on a single hole in 2001 after rule change which was quickly scrapped

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Greg Norman was the first professional golfer to surpass $10 million in career earnings.

He earned over $17 million between 1981 and 2012, including over $14 million from the PGA Tour and $3.5 million from major championships. The former LIV Golf CEO went on to have a lucrative post-playing career, too. 

But Greg Norman was once paid more for a single hole of golf than he received in prize money for any other event, even when he finished third at the 2008 Open Championship. 

It all happened because of a rule change at an event, which was quickly scrapped.

How Greg Norman made $800,000 on one hole

The Skins Game, first introduced in 1983, saw some of the best players in golf fight it out for a cash prize over 18 holes.

Each hole was worth a certain amount of money, known as a “skin.” To win the money, a player had to have the lowest score on that hole, and the skin was carried over to the next hole if two or more players tied.

Gary Player won $170,000 at the first Skins Game event against Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, and Tom Watson. Palmer won $100,000 on a single hole, which was more than he had won at any other event during his career. The cash prize then increased dramatically year after year. 

But a rule change in 2001 meant it was far more difficult for a player to earn a skin. The “validation” rule meant that the player who won the previous hole must then tie or win the next to collect the money. That proved incredibly difficult to do.

In fact, Norman, playing with Colin Montgomerie, Fred Couples, and Jesper Parnevik, was the only player to achieve this. He won the 17th, then tied the 18th to collect $800,000, the largest skin ever collected for a single hole at the Skins Game.

That was because the money from previous holes kept rolling over to the next due to the player’s inability to win a single skin. Norman took home $1 million from the event, before the rule was scrapped the following year. 

Skins Game makes its return for 2025 with another rule change

After a 15-year hiatus, the Skins Game is back in 2025, and some of the biggest names in the game will fight it out for a cash prize.

Tommy Fleetwood, Keegan Bradley, Justin Thomas, and Xander Schauffele, off the back of the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black, will play in the event’s return at Panther National. 

But this time, the Skins Game will feature another rule change. Each player will start with $1 million, and this amount will increase or decrease depending on whether they win or lose a hole. 

No longer will players have 18 attempts at snatching a large cash sum. There is now not only an incentive to win the hole, but there’s also a reason not to lose it. 

Let’s hope this rule adaptation is more successful than the one we saw in 2001!