Claim: Matt Kuchar is paid to play golf.

In golf the distinction between amateurs and professionals is rigorously maintained . An amateur who breaches the rules of amateur status may lose his or her amateur status . A golfer who has lost his or her amateur status may not play in amateur competitions until amateur status has been reinstated ; a professional may not play in amateur tournaments unless the Committee is notified , acknowledges and confirms the participation . It is very difficult for a professional to regain his or her amateur status ; simply agreeing not to take payment for a particular tournament is not enough . A player must apply to the governing body of the sport to have amateur status reinstated .   Under the rules of golf and amateur status of the R&A , the maximum an amateur can win is # 500 . Under the rules of golf and amateur status of the USGA the maximum an amateur can win is $ 750 . If an amateur accepts a prize of greater than this they forfeit their amateur status , and are therefore by definition a professional golfer .   Professional golfers are divided into two main groups , with a limited amount of overlap between them :   The great majority of professional golfers make their living from teaching the game , running golf clubs and courses , and dealing in golf equipment . In golf pro refers to individuals involved in the service of other golfers . The senior professional golfer at a golf club is usually referred to as the club professional , but at a large golf club or resort with several courses his job title is likely to be director of golf . If he or she has assistants who are registered professional golfers , they are known as assistant professionals . A golfer who concentrates wholly or nearly so on giving golf lessons is a teaching professional , golf instructor or golf coach . Most of these people will enter a few tournaments against their peers each year , and occasionally they may qualify to play in important tournaments with the other group of professional golfers mentioned below . Many club and teaching professionals working in the golf industry start as caddies , or a general interest in the game , finding employment at golf courses and eventually moving on to certifications in their chosen profession . These programs include independent institutions and universities , and those that eventually lead to a Class A golf professional certification .  A much smaller but higher profile group of professional golfers earn a living from playing in golf tournaments , or aspire to do so . Their income comes from prize money , and sometimes , even endorsements . These individuals are referred to as tournament pros , tour professionals , or pro golfers .   Historically , the distinction between amateur and professional golfers had much to do with social class . In 18th and 19th century Britain , golf was played by the rich , for pleasure . The early professionals were working class men who made a living from the game in a variety of ways : caddying , greenkeeping , clubmaking , and playing challenge matches . When golf arrived in America at the end of the 19th century , it was an elite sport there , too . Early American golf clubs imported their professionals from Britain . It was not possible to make a living solely from playing tournament golf until some way into the 20th century -LRB- Walter Hagen is sometimes considered to have been the first man to have done so -RRB- .   In the developed world , the class distinction is now almost entirely irrelevant . Golf is affordable at public courses to a large portion of the population , and most golf professionals are from middle-class backgrounds , which are often the same sort of backgrounds as the members of the clubs where they work or the people they teach the game , and educated to university level . Leading tournament golfers are very wealthy ; upper class in the modern U.S. usage of the term . However , in some developing countries , there is still a class distinction . Often golf is restricted to a much smaller and more elite section of society than is the case in countries like the United States and the United Kingdom . Professional golfers from these countries are quite often from poor backgrounds and start their careers as caddies , for example , Ángel Cabrera of Argentina , and Zhang Lian-wei who is the first significant tournament professional from the People 's Republic of China .  In various countries , Professional Golfers ' Associations -LRB- PGAs -RRB- serve either or both of these categories of professionals . There are separate LPGAs -LRB- Ladies Professional Golf Associations -RRB- for women .