The American team will be paid for the first time at Bethpage Black in New York this week
The big talking point in the build-up to this year’s Ryder Cup has been the matter of player payments, a subject that has threatened to overshadow the American’s show.
It is not the first time the issue of remuneration has come up at the Ryder Cup, and it is usually something that bothers the US team.
The Ryder Cup has always been an unpaid event, ever since its first instalment in 1927. It was billed as a friendly match between the US and Britain, and, for the players, the motivation behind the tournament was the pride of representing their country.
The Ryder Cup was considering something of an exhibition up until the 1980s, when it started to become a popular televised event. Both the PGA of America and the European Tour began to recoup significant revenues as sponsors were drawn to the show.
In 1999, Tiger Woods was prominent in applying pressure for players to be paid. Woods and David Duval made the case that millions of dollars were being made by organisers of the Brookline event that year.
There was plenty of backlash in the media and among former players, who said the Ryder Cup was about playing for pride and with patriotism. The PGA of America decided to pay players a relatively small sum in terms of their career earnings which would be donated to a charity of their choice.
Phil Mickelson was another player who questioned the financial model of the Ryder Cup, but America’s charitable payment structure stayed in place, and Team Europe continued not to be paid.
It all came to a head at Rome in 2023, when a story broke during the Ryder Cup that America’s Patrick Cantlay was refusing to wear a hat as a silent protest against not being paid to play. It culminated in thousands of fans waving their hats at him, and ultimately sparked confrontation on the 18th green.
It emerged just ahead of this year’s event at Bethpage Black, New York, that the American players would now be paid $500,000 each, of which $300,000 would be donated to charity. It is the first time any players have ever been paid to play in a Ryder Cup.
The move again drew criticism from the outside, and drew a jibe from European captain Luke Donald during his speech at the opening ceremony.
"[The Ryder Cup] is not about prize money or ranking points,” said Donald. “It's about pride, it's about representing your flag, your shirt and the legacy you leave behind.”
Most of the American players have come out and said that the money they receive will still be donated to charity. But that is unlikely to stop the questions about their motivations and whether they are in-keeping with the true spirit and traditions of this prestigious, historic competition.
Category: General Sports
