There are many differences between the American and European teams of this Ryder Cup, but no as clear as their bank accounts.
In short, the Americans – as an individual – benefit financially from their involvement of the Cup. The European side does not do so. At least not directly. The context is, of course, much more nuanced.
For the last 12 Ryder Cups, dating from 1999, American golfers and captains received donations of $ 200,000 to a charity of their choice. It started in a slightly controversial way, Captain Ben Crenshaw “reprimanded” the American players a month before the event in the PGA 1999 championship in Medinah. But Crenshaw was against a formidable opponent: the best players Tiger Woods and David Duval did not want how the cup had become the company.
“It’s not greed”, Woods said at the time. “This is the fact that we want to help. We want to give money to our charitable organizations in our local areas. There is so much money generated at the Ryder Cup, it has become a corporate event. ”
This year was the first year of $ 200,000 in charitable, which have often ended up benefiting from the players’ foundations. This amount has never changed in the years for … so far.
This year’s American team will not only receive $ 300,000 in donations to a charity of their choice, but they will also receive an allowance of $ 200,000 to do with everything they want. The reports of this change broke out in November and were Finalized by the PGA in December.
“Well, the PGA of America came to see me, they wanted to bring the Ryder Cup into the current one,” said American captain Keegan Bradley on Monday at Bethpage Black. “Charitable dollars had not changed since 1999 and they asked me to make their way to go to 2025.”
At a time of empowerment of players and immense evaluations of television rights, this type of arrangement would not cause much concern, if it does not compete so radically the situation of their adversaries.
European players do not Receive payment of any kind, and when asked by Captain Luke Donald to a potential change in this tradition, the team has apparently decided that such income should continue to benefit directly to the DP World Tour, where many of them played their first professional events.
“It came and I wanted to get ahead,” said the European captain Luke Donald told Sky Sports Monday. “I spoke to the 12 guys from Rome when it seemed that the United States would do something different with payments and, you know, each of them was like:” We don’t want – it’s not a week to be paid. “”
All of this follows a controversial 2023 cup when compensation has become a burning subject again. Various reports during (and after) the week called The uniform without hat of Patrick Cantlay A kind of silent protest against the compensation system. While Cantlay denied the idea, Xander Schauffele’s father Stefan concluded the file with journalists calling for greater transparency in the way the benefits of the Ryder Cup are used. The event is a huge silver manufacturer for both sides of the property – the PGA of America and the DPWT – especially for the side of accommodation. Financial documents have shown how much Ryder Cup is massively important for the sustainability of the DPWT, which is undoubtedly part of what makes the decision an obvious decision for the Europe team.
But walk in The Court of Public Opinion Last fall was the immediate response of European players like Rory McILroy and Shane Lowry, who both said they would be happy to play to play the Ryder Cup because of what the event meant for them. Keegan Bradley later promised that $ 500,000 from what he receives will go to charity. Tiger Woods, speaking during his event in the Bahamas a few weeks later, took them as literally as possible.
“If Europeans want to pay to be in the Ryder Cup, it’s their decision to do so, it’s their team,” said Woods. “I know that when it is on European soil that it subsidizes most of their tour, it is therefore a big event for the European tour and if they want to pay to play it, that it is so.”
Although this result is very unlikely, it is clear that this subject does not disappear anytime soon and could divide these teams forever.
