After weeks of speculation, the PGA of America has officially confirmed that American players representing their nation will be paid to appear in the Ryder Cup for the first time in 2025.
Each of the 12 American players and the team captain will receive a $500,000 financial package after the PGA of America board gave the green light to the plans last week and made the official announcement on social channels on Monday afternoon.
Since 1999, each American player had $200,000 of charitable donations made in their names, with half going to junior golf development and the other half to a charity of the player’s choosing, and while the charity aspect remains and is even being increased to $300,000, the remaining $200,000 is at the players’ disposal and they are free to pocket it if they so wish.
Current US Team captain Keegan Bradley has already confirmed that he intends to give the entirety of his financial package to charity, but as of yet, no other player has followed suit but it’s likely others will take a similar path in the coming weeks.
The PGA of America are adamant that this was their choice, claiming in social posts that “no player asked to be compensated”, and that “the players and captains, past and present, are responsible for the Ryder Cup becoming the most special competition in golf and one of the most in-demand events on the international sports scene.”
A Statement from the PGA of America on the 2025 Ryder Cup 🏆https://t.co/osnhWC9vgH
— PGA of America (@PGA) December 16, 2024
Just days before the decision was announced, numerous outlets including The Telegraph and Sports Illustrated reported that a dozen former Ryder Cup captains had signed a letter to the PGA of America requesting that the organisation ditch any plans to pay the players, but their request was either too late or fell on deaf ears and the decision to remunerate was made regardless.
Speaking anonymously to Sports Illustrated, one ex-US skipper said: “This was never intended to get out. This was done with the idea that you should play for your country and not reap financial benefit.
“We are trying to honor those who came before us and honor the Ryder Cup. It’s given us a lot of great moments in our lives. We’ve just wanted to show support.”
He went on to say that he would be in favour of an increase in the $200,000 payment that was originally in situ providing that the entire amount goes to charity as it is at present. Tiger Woods suggested the same in a press conference prior to the Hero World Challenge and reiterated his position that it was charitable intent as opposed to greed which saw Mark O’Meara, David Duval and himself raise the issue prior to the 1999 Ryder Cup.
“Well, I would have to say that going back to my playing days, we had the same conversation back in ’99 and it was we didn’t want to get paid, we wanted to give more money to charity, and the media turned it around against us and said we want to get paid,” Woods told the press in the Bahamas.
“No, the Ryder Cup itself makes so much money, why can’t we allocate it to various charities? And what’s wrong with each player, 12 players, getting a million dollars and the ability to divvy out to amazing charities that they’re involved in that they can help out? It’s their hometowns, where they’re from, all the different junior golf associations or endeavors that the members are involved in.
“It’s never really been about getting paid, it’s how can we allocate funds to help our sport or help things that we believe in back home, because it’s so hard to get onto that team, there’s only 12 guys.
“What’s wrong with being able to allocate more funds? I hope they would get $5 million each and donate it all to charity, different charities. I think it’s great. What’s wrong with that?”
Back in ’99, then US captain Ben Crenshaw was faced with the prospect of three of his 12 players – and the top two players in the world rankings – boycotting the event so he helped broker the ‘$200,000 to charity’ arrangement, but it’s been widely reported that at least some of the players who travelled to Marco Simone in Rome in 2023 were unhappy at not personally being compensated for their time and effort. Since the Ryder Cup has become such a marketable event and the revenue generated continues to grow, they felt that, since there is no show without the players, they should get a slice of the pie. And whether those rumours were true or not, the end result is the same.
On the European side, there are still no plans for the golfers to be paid, and with big name players like Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry and others stating that they’d be willing to pay for the privilege as opposed to being paid for it, it’s unlikely that that’s going to change anytime soon.
Leave a comment