There wasn't a great reward for a share of 44th place in the Irish Open at Portmarnock in 1989. In fact Jim Thorpe came away with a modest £1,471 from his only challenge in the event. But fortunes have changed dramatically since then for one of the few black golfers to have made his mark in professional ranks.

Playing better now than at any stage of a 30-year career, Thorpe has earned more money in the last seven months on the US Seniors' Tour than in the previous three decades. During that period he had two victories which brought his earnings for 2000 to $1.65 million and so far this year, he had added $180,000.

Changed times. As Thorpe recalled: "I remember going to a golf course called Sugar Mill in Florida which must have been 20 miles from the bus stop. And I walked the whole way with a tiny suitcase and a golf bag on my back. The one good thing about playing in Florida is that you never went hungry, with all those orange trees down there. And if you needed to, you could always go to a pond and catch a fish."

Remarkably devoid of bitterness, Thorpe went on: "There was much more unity in the old days than there is today. It was nothing for four or five guys to share a hotel room. Two guys would sleep on a mattress and two would sleep on the box springs. It was a major struggle but it made us all better men."