Rory McIlroy told he's hit 'nail on the head' by controversial TV analyst

Brandel Chamblee says Rory McIlroy has 'hit the nail on the head' after the Northern Irishman reacted to a report that American golfers at the 2025 Ryder Cup will be paid for the first time in the biennial dust-up. 

Telegraph Sport reported last week that Team USA members at Bethpage Black will be paid $400,000 each for their participation. 

There is currently no indication that European team members will be remunerated. 

McIlroy told reporters before he won his sixth Race to Dubai title over the weekend that he would pay to play in the Ryder Cup. 

The 35-year-old reckons money would be better spent supporting the DP World Tour and the Challenge Tour. 

"For us, it would give it a different feel [if we were paid]," he said. 

"What we have done a very good job of is being a very cohesive group over the last decade and we wouldn’t want anything to change that."

Chamblee, unsurprisingly, is in agreement with the Ulsterman. 

The LIV Golf critic claimed the news will only drive away more fans who are becoming increasingly disillusioned with the sport. 

"Once again Rory hits the nail on the head," Chamblee wrote on X. 

"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.

"The increasing commoditisation of this game is a tough pill to swallow. I recently read a commentary on greed that went something like this: Think of Michelangelo, who in seeking to merely honour the glory of man, carved the statue of David, and wanting to highlight the capacity that humans have for compassionate suffering, he carved the Pieta."

See his full post here:

He added: "Neither of these masterpieces were motivated by money, they were motivated by wanting to draw the human spirit upward. 

"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."

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