Golf Digest: On Tour : Games pros play - golf: betting among the players

The game is called "air hammer," a form of bent-grass roulette best played by those with 20/20 foresight and a dependable ATM card. Paul Azinger and his buddies start at $5, a bet that can be doubled at any time, most notably the five or six seconds during which an opponent's ball is in transit. This could explain why Azinger is so fond of a low trajectory.

"Best heckling game of all time," he says. "You can hammer a guy, really let him have it, before it hits the water."

To say the PGA Tour turns into a casino on Tuesdays and Wednesdays is a bit of a stretch. But while the tour prohibits gambling, it succeeds the same way your handicap chairman prevents sandbagging. "You won't have any problem finding a game out here if you're looking for one," says John Cook.

The list of men willing to accommodate one's financial needs includes John Daly, Vijay Singh, David Duval, John Huston, Tim Herron and Phil Mickelson. ("The joke is, Phil plays harder on Tuesday," says one tour regular.)

At the British Open, a popular game among foursomes involves a $1,000 payout (per man) to the player who goes 18 holes without a bogey. At Troon in 1997, the wind was blowing so hard that Davis Love III, Fred Couples, Justin Leonard and Tom Kite upped the stakes to $1 million. Couples was the last man alive. He tripled the seventh.

Sam Snead was known to cover the occasional gambling loss with a check, figuring the winner would hold onto his signature rather than cash it. Lanny Wadkins couldn't tee it up without playing for something. In the '60s, Raymond Floyd and Lee Trevino engaged in a legendary game on Trevino's home course in El Paso, Tex. In a straight-up, no-press bet, Floyd shot 65-64 over two days and lost $2,000. On the third day, he fired a 63 and won back his money.

When the British Open returned to Turnberry in 1994, Jack Nicklaus and Tom Watson both referred to practice-round matches as a vital part of tournament preparation. This, of course, after they'd dusted Nick Price and Greg Norman, at the time ranked first and second in the world. Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer still partake in a friendly skins game at Augusta National, modest stakes, of course, nothing compared to the $15,000 Huston won before the 1998 Masters.

"The first day [Mickelson] and I played Daly and Herron," Huston says. "There was a pretty good amount going, and they doubled the bet on the last hole. They both hit it close, but I holed it out from the fairway for 2. The next day it was Phil and I against Duval and Daly. We beat them pretty good. I made like 10 birdies, Phil made an eagle and three birdies. We shot something like 28 [best ball] on the back nine."

Mickelson confirms taking a sizable amount of cash from Daly, who bankrolled his team. "Playing for $10 or $15, it's easy to get a little distracted," Mickelson says. "You get something going for $100 or more, it definitely keeps your attention."

Huston says there aren't many players who like to bet, for whatever reason. "It's unbelievable we're playing for this much [prize] money and guys don't want to play for more than $5," he says. "I think it's the best preparation. It's definitely better than hitting it out of the bunker 100 times."

Cook says the Isleworth crowd-Tiger Woods, Mark O'Meara & Co.-are partial to a $20 nassau, not because they can't afford more, but to keep things friendly. "The most you'll lose is $80 to $100, which isn't too bad," Cook says. "Nobody gets hurt. You don't want to walk away mad."

Before the Mercedes Championships moved to Hawaii, the old Kapalua International was the site of some big-time games. "Balls in the air at 7 a.m., and if you were late, it was a $100 fine," Mark Calcavecchia says. "We'd play an eightsome, $100 automatic 1 downs, and half the time on the back nine you'd double up. I remember making a 12-footer on the 18th hole that was worth $6,200."

Fulton Allem is known to enjoy a little action, and Andy Bean remains the king of the practice-green wager, but on most Tuesdays and Wednesdays, it's business as usual. "The guys making a lot of money are the guys playing for a lot of money," says Billy Andrade. "The $20 1 downs I can afford, but $100? When thousands of dollars are changing hands after a round, that's when you know we're making too much money."