The End Of The Golf Amateur

Hello. Congrats to Colt Knost (great handle!) for winning the US Amateur Sunday.
Knost now has to make a tough decision - stay amateur and wait to play in the Masters and US Open, or turn pro right away, forfeit your Masters and US Open spots and make some cash in the "Quest for the Card" events on the PGA Tour.
On the surface it looks like a no-brainer. Who would throw away Masters and US Open berths? The odds of Knost getting into these events in 2008 as a pro are very slim.
However, the other side of the coin is Knost has to wait until next Father's Day to turn pro if he keeps his amateur status. Like all of us, he has bills to pay. Unlike many of us, his golf bills are very high, and the amount of money he's leaving on the table is even higher.
In an ideal world, Knost shouldn't have this decision. All golfers (and I include juniors playing in gross only events) should be pros. Curlers are considered amateurs even though they earn money because most teams don't earn enough to cover expenses. That's true of every golfer not exempt on the PGA and European Tours as well.
How would this work? More in my next post.

Regards,
Steve