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If reports are to be believed, members of Team USA at the 2025 Ryder Cup will each receive a $400,000 stipend. That is in stark contrast to past tournaments and the spirit of the event. For example, the same players received $200,000 at Marco Simone in 2023 to be donated to a charity they chose.
This would be the first time in the nearly 100-year history of the Ryder Cup that players would be paid. While members of Team USA have been rather outspoken about being paid to play, not everyone agrees.
While speaking at the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai on Thursday, Rory McIlroy addressed the issue.
“I personally would pay for the privilege to play in the Ryder Cup,” Rory McIlroy told the Irish Golfer.
“I have come a long way in this, especially with the Olympics, but the two purist forms of competition in our game right now are the Ryder Cup and Olympics, partly because of the purity of no money being involved.”
During the last Ryder Cup in Italy, Patrick Cantlay supposedly refused to wear a Team USA hat in protest of not being paid. That drew the ire of golf fans and players alike. It appears he might be getting his way, though.
James Corrigan reports that Team USA Ryder Cup players could soon be paid for competing. It is believed the figure $400k per player has been put forward and is likely to be ratified at board level. There are no plans for European players to be paid at the moment.
Patrick Cantlay… https://t.co/CNXmOh7wFu pic.twitter.com/vYj82FRJiR
— Flushing It (@flushingitgolf) November 13, 2024
The PGA of America is allegedly nearing a deal that will put cold hard cash into the pockets of Team USA members, according to James Corrigan of The Telegraph.
The emergence of LIV Golf has infused the sport with money but also conversations about team competitions. But golf has always been an individual sport. Because of that, the camaraderie and passion created by the Ryder Cup among teammates made it something special. The players were not playing for money but for country and pride.
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McIlroy is not the only one to feel that way. Golf Channel analyst and former professional golfer Brandel Chamblee acknowledged that McIlroy “hit the nail on the head” on social media.
“It’s a sad commentary on the professional game that a few players with misdirected and undo power treat every aspect of this game, including the privilege of playing for one’s country, as transactional. They are the reason the very lifeblood of this game, which is to say those that play it recreationally, are increasingly turning away from those that play it professionally.”
“To play at the highest level, players have to rediscover the reason to pursue the highest level. And it is not for money. It is merely striving to take full advantage of one’s talents and resources to simply see how good they can become. And occasionally give back to the game by playing for one’s country.
“And, dare I say, for the privilege of it and not the profit of it.”
That was summed up eloquently and beautifully. Golf is different than any other sport. There is a certain prestige and honor to it. Chamblee sees that cracking, as greed and money continue to influence decision-making. A $400,000 paycheck likely makes losing to the Europeans more palpable, but should it be palpable?
The Ryder Cup pits the best in the world against one another on a stage unlike any other in golf. Like most things, money will likely change that, at least in America. The Europeans have no plans to pay players for Ryder Cup participation.
