for a few dollars more the Americans can “kill” the legendary Ryder Cup

Since the arrival of Saudi petrodollars and the creation of Liv golf, money has been flowing more than ever for the best players on the planet. Good for them. But never satisfied, they always want more. To the point of indecency. And even the legendary Ryder Cup will be impacted. For the first time since the birth of the biennial Europe – United States competition in 1927, each American player will receive an allocation of $200,000 as well as an additional $300,000 to be donated to a charity during the next edition in Bethpage (New York) in September 2025. Even if the representatives of the USA will have to repay part of their winnings, the sacrilege is there and marks the end of this tradition of not paying the players from both camps…

The Europeans assure us that they will play for the glory of this legendary biennial competition. “ Personally, I would pay for the privilege of playing in the Ryder Cup, whispered European team star Rory McIlroy. The two purest forms of competition in our sport right now are the Ryder Cup and the Olympics, and it's partly because of that, the purity of the fact that there is no The money at stake (…) I don't think any of the 24 players on either team need this $400,000. Every two years there are 104 and 103 weeks where you can play golf and get paid. » We want to believe it. But until when? It is difficult to imagine in the long term a team of paid players facing a team of “volunteer” players. And that’s entirely human.

The Americans have made their choice. Shameless. The PGA of America made it clear that “ no player requested to be paid » and that the board of directors simply “vomitted the increase in the allocation “. But no one is fooled… We remember the very interested Patrick Cantlay, who during the last Ryder Cup in Rome in 2023, mentioned the compensation already put in place in the Presidents Cup (United States competition – rest of the world) where each player receives 250,000 dollars. The “unionist” Cantlay did not wear his team cap during the competition because he was protesting against the fact that the players were not paid. Which drew the wrath of spectators (and certain media).

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Irishman Paul McGinley, captain of the victorious European team in 2014 at Gleneagles, summed up: “Like many things happening in the golf world right now, it's a real shame. I know we play a professional sport, but aren't the best players paid enough as it is, rich enough with what they have? is happening now? Giving money to players in the Ryder Cup, I don't like that idea, I don't like it at all. It's not like the Ryder Cup is run by a company that keeps all the profits. Money is redistributed for the good of golf “. One thing is certain: this American greed does not contribute to changing the image of high-level golfers guided mainly by money. And another certainty. These Americans, now defrayed, have every interest in recovering the trophy against the Europeans at home in September…