Tiger Woods ally sparks war among golf fans with Ryder Cup pay-for-play comments

Tiger Woods' good buddy Mark O'Meara has sparked a fierce debate on social media after the American claimed pushing for players to be paid in the Ryder Cup cost him the captaincy. 

O'Meara offered his unfiltered opinion on the subject in an interview with SI's Bob Harig. 

The 67-year-old, who is in the field for this week's PNC Championship, told the publication that the PGA of America should have listened to him 'years ago'. 

During the interview, O'Meara said:

• He asked the PGA of America as far back as 1998 for players to get compensated
• Several high-profile players, such as Woods, David Duval and Phil Mickelson wanted greater transparency over how cash generated from the Cup was spent
• He felt he deserved to captain the team when the Ryder Cup went to The K Club in Ireland, but Tom Lehman was selected ahead of him over his gripes
• There has been a lack of attention over the fact U.S. players, for the past two years, have been paid $250,000 each when they compete at the Presidents Cup

O'Meara said: "I'm a pro golfer. This is what I do for a living. My name is here on my bag. And do I know what people think. It's greedy. I don't think that's greed. 

"I mean people are paying to come and watch you play. And I told the media back then, I know everybody's emotional about this, but what if all your different media outlets, whoever you guys work for, they're going to pay for you to be there, pay for your computer, your hotel, whatever. 

"Now, whatever your salary is this week, would you just take that away and give it to a charity? Do you want to do that? And I was like why should you?"

Needless to say, O'Meara's comments were met with mixed responses. 

'Ask those who never have been paid," one X user commented. 'They sure would play for free to represent their country."

Another backed O'Meara, saying: 'As it should have been!'

The Ryder Cup pay-for-play debate was reignited at the 2023 showdown in Italy. 

Patrick Cantlay reportedly didn't wear a team cap as he was protesting about not getting compensated. 

Cantlay has repeatedly denied this was the case. 

Last month, he refused to be drawn into commenting.

On the other side, European golfers have made it clear they do not want to be paid. 

Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry have said they would pay to compete. 

Sergio Garcia, the record points scorer in the biennial event, also took a dim view of the news that the U.S. players will be paid $200,000 each at Bethpage Black next September.

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