Discretion among the wealthy is always to be admired

Two items from either side of the Atlantic, caught my attention this week

Two items from either side of the Atlantic, caught my attention this week. Their impact was clearly heightened by the various revelations from Leeds United, including the fact that as a teenager, one of their players could afford to pay £550,000 sterling cash for his first house. "To be truthful, I think as golfers we are overpaid," Colin Montgomerie claims in "Golf World". "It's unreal and I have trouble dealing with the guilt sometimes." From the US, Gaylord Sports management, saw fit to issue a statement on behalf of one of their leading clients. In it, they pointed out that Phil Mickelson's recent winnings from bets on the Baltimore Ravens and Arizona Diamondbacks were $440,000 and $60,000, not $560,000 and $700,000 as reported.Last April, after a US Masters victory gave him possession of all four "major" trophies, a $75 million deal with the Disney Corporation, gave Tiger Woods potential career earnings of $6 billion. So, golf can offer a lot more money than the English Premiership.Most people I come across don't seem to have a problem with this, insofar as they see money giving professional sport much of its dramatic appeal. But they like professional sportsmen and women to behave responsibly and not flaunt their wealth, as if disdaining those less well off.In this context, Woods sets a wonderful example. Though he's reputed to be a much bigger gambler than Mickelson, we don't tend to hear details of his punting. And Padraig Harrington, as the wealthiest professional golfer living in this country, could hardly keep a more modest profile. Discretion among the wealthy is always to be admired.