U.S. Ryder Cup team to get paid (!) for first time in history but Europe will not
Report: Players on the United States Ryder Cup team will get paid for the first time in Ryder Cup history, but Europe will not follow suit according to The Telegraph.
Players on the 2025 United States Ryder Cup team are expected be paid for the first time in the biennial event's 97-year history at Bethpage Black in New York next September, according to The Telegraph's James Corrigan.
The bombshell update coming out of the U.S. Ryder Cup team will mean players on Keegan Bradley's side will reportedly collect in the region of $400,000 each.
Corrigan reports "there are no plans for European players to be paid to appear."
Nothing has yet been made official by the PGA of America but insiders have told The Telegraph that pay cheques for U.S. players are expected to be ratified at board level.
Related:
As has been tradition for nearly 100 years in one of sport's greatest team events, Ryder Cup players have never been paid.
It's always been about pride.
Controversy surrounded the staging of the 2023 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone in Rome when Patrick Cantlay rocked up to play in the event without wearing a cap.
Cantlay was accused by Sky Sports reporter Jamie Weir of not wearing a Team USA cap in protest at the lack of money he was receiving for representing his nation in Rome.
Weir also reported Cantlay declined an invitation to the Ryder Cup gala dinner that was attended by the wives and girlfriends of Team Europe and Team USA.
Then rumours of a fractured changing room as a result of Cantlay's actions during the week did the rounds, but members of the team soon played down such talk.
Off the back of Weir's comments about Cantlay, complete bedlam broke out during the week as the European crowd played on the story and mocked the Californian's every move around Marco Simone by waving their caps in the air.
Things further escalated when Cantlay buried a long putt to win his Saturday fourballs match alongside Wyndham Clark and against Rory McIlroy and Matt Fitzpatrick.
Cantlay's caddie Joe LaCava, formerly Tiger Woods' caddie, took off his cap and waved it around before distracting McIlroy who still had a putt to tie the match.
Things then boiled over into the car park as McIlroy was fuming with what LaCava had done in front of him while he was trying to line up his putt.
McIlroy eventually had the last laugh, however, as he defeated Sam Burns in the Sunday Singles en route to helping Europe win back the Ryder Cup.
He also top scored for the week with four points from a possible five.
As was the case at the 2023 Ryder Cup, while players were not paid directly for their efforts, each participant did receive $200,000 they could donate to charity.
One European player has toldThe Telegraph the 2025 U.S. Ryder Cup team "can do whatever they want".
But players on Luke Donald's 2025 team will not want to follow suit since "it's not what the Ryder Cup is about."
The player added: "Let’s face it, a lot of the American players have been angling towards this for years, if not decades.
"If it does go ahead, then it will be interesting to see how the fans react at Bethpage, although they’ll probably announce it as just an extension of what already happens."
The 2025 Ryder Cup takes place at Bethpage Black in New York from 26-28 September.
Daily tickets from Friday to Saturday will set fans back at least $750.
That has not gone down well with fans.
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