"All dollars being equal, what exactly does lucrative mean?"

While Greg Norman is talking about the dim prospects for PGA Tour purses in the coming years (thanks to reader Jim), Doug Ferguson makes a pretty strong case that even a decline would only then bring the purses in line with the European Tour.

Much is made over some of its players - none named Tiger Woods, by the way - spending more time in Europe, even though that amounts to playing only five extra tournaments overseas. Ridicule is aimed at the FedEx Cup, even though its bonus pool is $35 million (27 million euros), which is 3 1/2 times more than what the Race to Dubai offers.

All dollars being equal, what exactly does lucrative mean?

The HSBC Champions, for which Mickelson is the defending champion, is among the richer events on the European Tour with a $5 million (euro4 million) purse.

That's $400,000 (312,000 euros) more than what is offered at Disney, the final event of the Fall Series.

What this doesn't take into account is golf course setup and architecture. Some of the players leaning toward the European Tour have made clear they are either fed up with PGA Tour course setup, bored with the architecture, or in some cases, searching for more week-to-week diversity as a means of honing their games.