Tourneys prefer a big-name winner over a first-timer

	Was Brett Wetterich's win at the Nelson sexy enough for you? Scott Halleran/Getty Images

When a player wins for the first time on the PGA Tour, the ramifications become great/bittersweet scenarios for those involved.

For first-time winners, life improves dramatically. There's the invaluable two-year exemption to ease the annual pressure of keeping a Tour card. Endorsement bonuses kick in. Corporate-outing fees grow. Pairings and starting times in future events improve. First-tee introductions are more impressive. And winning a tournament provides an unofficial 10-year exemption to that event ... plus a better parking place.

Those are the tangible benefits. The intangibles? That initial win validates the player's existence and self-worth on Tour and justifies all those arduous practice sessions and constant frustrations along the way.

For the tournament and its officials, though, a first-time winner results in a curious reaction. Given an honest choice, any event would rather add a marquee name to its champions' ledger, a name that adds oomph to the event's reputation and exposure.

That's why officials offer the Tour's biggest stars sultan-like perks, such as scarce concert and sporting-event tickets, opportunities to race at the local speedway, spa treatments and shopping excursions for wives and almost anything else the players desire short of blatant appearance fees -- all in the hopes of luring said players into the field.

Of course, event officials don't always fret over a first-time winner. If the player possesses some strong hype -- think Tiger Woods in Las Vegas in 1996 -- it becomes something memorable. Think the tournaments with Michelle Wie in the field are salivating over the possibility of hosting her first win?

But when a first-timer with lesser name recognition hoists the winning trophy, officials are left to walk with pursed smiles mixed with a little regret. They don't want to openly diminish the accomplishment, but they pine for a better ending. The player is certainly not at fault for winning the event, yet there appears to be a degree of sheepishness involved. Hey, glad I won, the player thinks. Sorry it's not a better story.