Ryder Cup 2025: Team USA players will be paid for competing at Bethpage Black, PGA of America confirms

The PGA of America announced on Monday that each of the 12 players on Keegan Bradley's American side will receive $500,000 (£395,000) for competing at the 2025 Ryder Cup, with $300,000 donated to a charity or charities chosen by each player and the remainder termed a "stipend"

Monday 16 December 2024 15:54, UK

American players will be paid for competing in the 2025 Ryder Cup as they bid to regain the trophy at Bethpage Black next year.

Players have competed in the Ryder Cup for nearly a century without receiving appearance fees but talk about whether American players should be paid has been a debate since before the turn of the century, with reports of an agreement growing in recent weeks.

The PGA of America announced on Monday that each of the 12 players on Keegan Bradley's side will receive $500,000 (£395,000), with $300,000 (£237,000) of that donated to a charity or charities chosen by each player.

The remaining $200,000 (£158,000) has been termed a "stipend".

The PGA of America approved the package despite saying "no players asked to be compensated".

"The players and captains, past and present, are responsible for the Ryder Cup becoming the most special competition in golf and one of the most in-demand events on the international sports scene," the PGA of America said in a statement.

"While no players asked to be compensated, the PGA of America board of directors has voted to increase the allocation to the members of the US Ryder Cup team from $200,000 to be directed to charities - a figure unchanged since 1999 - to $500,000, with $300,000 of that to be directed to the charity or charities of the players' choice.

"The balance is a stipend.

"Golf is a long-established vehicle for good, and it's exciting to imagine the impact the members of the 2025 US Ryder Cup team will deliver for worthy causes and communities across the country, including the many initiatives that support the growth of the game."

When reports of the new compensation package first emerged last month, Rory McIlroy was one of several European players who said that they did not need a financial incentive to play in the Ryder Cup.

"I personally would pay for the privilege to play in the Ryder Cup," McIlroy told reporters.

"I have come a long way in this, especially with the Olympics, but the two purest forms of competition in our game right now are the Ryder Cup and Olympics, partly because of the purity of no money being involved."

The 2025 Ryder Cup takes place from September 26-28, live on Sky Sports, where Bradley's side will be looking to reclaim the trophy for the United States after being beaten by Luke Donald's European side in Rome last autumn.

How did money impact the last Ryder Cup?

Zach Johnson, the USA captain in 2023, played down suggestions that Patrick Cantlay was upset at not being paid to play at the Ryder Cup, following Sky Sports' Jamie Weir's report that Cantlay was demonstrating his frustration by refusing to wear a team cap.

Fans waved caps in the air at the American during the Saturday afternoon fourballs and mocked the former FedExCup champion, only for Cantlay to birdie his last three holes and give him and Wyndham Clark a 1up victory over Rory McIlroy and Matt Fitzpatrick.

McIlroy and several European players were involved in a conversation with Cantlay's caddie Joe LaCava, who appeared to step across the line of a European putt as he waved his own cap in the air, with the confrontation escalating and finishing with Shane Lowry ushering McIlroy away in a car park.

Will Team Europe follow suit?

There are no plans for Europeans to be paid to appear currently, with captain Luke Donald "100 per cent" against changing the tradition of the event and McIlroy among the players to speak out in support of the current system.

"The Ryder Cup represents true sport," Donald said after last year's win in Rome. "It's the purest form of competition we have, and I think because of that the fans love it. It's purely sport. That's what makes it so special."

Europe will be chasing a historic away victory next September, which would be their first on American soil since the 'Miracle at Medinah' in 2012, with Sky Sports' Rich Beem believing that Americans being paid to play could act as an incentive for Donald's side to impress.

"I think that's going to give them [Europe] some firepower," Beem explained. "I think the captain, Luke Donald's, going to use this to his advantage. In what form or fashion? I have no idea but I'd be sorely disappointed if he didn't.

"Europe are going to need all the fuel they can get. The crowds are going to be out of control, so I think that the European side need every ounce of firepower they can have and anything to kind of get underneath the American skin.

"You're going to have 35,000 hearty souls out there at Bethpage Black rooting on Team USA, trying to recapture the Ryder Cup. Any little bit that Luke Donald can put in his back pocket to use against Americans, you better believe he's going to do so."

Do the players need the money?

Appearance fees come in an era where players are competing for record prize purses on both the PGA Tour and DP World Tour, with Team USA golfers already getting paid to feature in the Presidents Cup.

"These players have already made so much money anyways, they don't need to make it on the Ryder Cup," Beem added. "It's not like we're having anybody that's just crawling in and making a meagre amount.

"I would imagine every player has made several million pounds that would be in contention of making the Ryder Cup, then obviously Scottie Scheffler has made in excess of $60m.

"They feel like they need to get paid and are using the fact that the PGA of America is making a lot of money off it, but they're also paying a lot of money on these players during the week and all the weeks leading up to it."

Sky Sports will continue to be the home of the Ryder Cup, with all three days of the 2025 exclusively live. Stream the PGA Tour, DP World Tour, LPGA Tour and more with NOW.

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