U.S. Ryder Cup Set to Break Tradition, Get Paid to Play at Bethpage Black

Rumblings from the Americans over not being paid to participate in the bi-annual exhibition aren't anything new to the professional golf scene.

Tiger Woods infamously spoke out decades ago about the PGA of America sweeping in millions of dollars during these events, while the players responsible for drawing the enormous crowds were left without a paycheck. Woods' 1999 Ryder Cup teammates Mark O'Meara and David Duval also voiced similar feelings on the matter, leading to the PGA of America donating $200,000 per player in every Ryder Cup since — but with a twist. Half of the money ($100,000) would be donated to junior golf foundations, and the other half ($100,000) would go to charities of the players' choice.

That wasn't good enough for the Americans — they wanted the money in THEIR pockets.

“I would like to see us receive whatever the amount is – 200, 300, 400, 500,000 dollars, whatever it is – and I think we should be able to keep the money and do whatever we see fit,” Woods said at the 1999 Ryder Cup.

"Personally, I would donate all of it to charity. But I think it’s up to the other person’s discretion what they would do with it. With all the money that’s being made, I think we should have a say in where it goes."

While this has been an ongoing issue for years, tensions seemingly reached a boiling point at the 2022 Ryder Cup in Italy, where Team Europe waxed the Red, White, and Blue for a lopsided victory on European soil. 

Amid Saturday's morning round, multiple reports surfaced from Rome that Cantlay, appearing in his second consecutive Ryder Cup for Team USA, refused to wear the team's uniform hat because he wasn't getting paid to play. The European faithful in Rome responded by waving their own caps in Cantlay's direction at every opportunity, shouting "Hats off to your bank account!" — an epic chant, truly.

Cantlay, who also elected not to wear a hat during his Ryder Cup debut at Whistling Straits, immediately denied the reports to the media, claiming the hat simply didn't fit properly and that he wasn't taking a stance against the PGA of America. But despite his efforts to throw water on the fire, "Hatgate" had already been turned into a frenzy and became the story of another United States' loss in Europe.

According to multiple reports, the Europeans don't plan to see financial compensation given to its players for the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black against Captain Keegan Bradley's squad.

“Let’s face it, a lot of the American players have been angling towards this for years, if not decades," one anonymous European player told Telegraph Sport. "We don’t want payments in our bank accounts, as it’ll be the thin end of the wedge and is not what the Ryder Cup is about."

“It’s one week where you play for more than yourself, not about money or points, it’s about coming together as a team and the fans feed off that – it’s all passion,” the player said. “I don’t think we should ever get paid.”