What's winning a major championship worth? A major championship is the gift that keeps giving. Not only does it pay off with an immediate large check, but it opens the doors for endorsement opportunities, overseas appearance fees and greatly increases a player's fee for a one-day corporate outing. For an established player like Mike Weir or Jim Furyk the off-course payoff is at least equal to the $1 million prize they got for winning the Masters and the U.S. Open, respectively. In the case of relative unknowns such as Ben Curtis (British Open), Shaun Micheel (PGA) and Hilary Lunke (U.S. Women's Open) the impact is even greater -- not in dollars but percentage. "We have quite a few deals we're negotiating," says Richard Gralitzer, who represents Micheel for Creative Sports Management. "His day rate went up substantially. Also, we have had a very nice Silly Season and have significant opportunities in overseas appearance opportunities." Sources familiar with first-time major winners of a stature similar to Micheel's say he'll earn about $500,000 total in outing and appearance fees in 2004, and a minimum of $750,000 in new endorsement deals -- more if he meets bonus goals. Alissa Herron, who represents Lunke for SFX Golf, was in the process of closing three national-endorsement deals as the new year began and says Lunke's daily fee went up "dramatically." Herron would not discuss the specific impact that winning the U.S. Open had for Lunke, but the probable effect, based on Golf Digest talks with those in a position to know, was that her daily fee jumped from less than $10,000 an appearance to more than $25,000. Lunke's endorsement deals tripled to more than $100,000 a year. If she does six outings a year, the minimum impact of winning the Open would be $250,000 in 2004. -- R.S.