Some U.S. Players Want Compensation for Competing in the Ryder Cup, and This Time They May Have a Point

Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele are at the center of the latest rumblings around Ryder Cup pay for players, but in his latest Weekly Read, Bob Harig says the issue goes back at least to 1999.

ROME – The idea of players getting paid to play in the Ryder Cup is nothing new. It’s been floated around for decades and was particularly contentious in the lead-up to the 1999 Ryder Cup. That resulted in six-figure sums being donated to player charities, and generally remained in the background.

Until this year.

At a time when the money talk in the game has become tiresome, the Ryder Cup is typically a rare moment when it’s not about remuneration but pride, passion and the quest for something that goes beyond the cash.

More Weekly Read: Possible Next Captains | Framework Agreement Update | Fore! Things

Whether he intended to or not, Patrick Cantlay found himself at the center of a pay controversy that erupted on Saturday, with word spreading among the partisan crowd, leading to a good bit of derision directed toward the American golfer.

Cantlay made it a point to steer away from the chatter, putting the focus on the event, but it’s no secret that the eight-time PGA Tour winner has stirred up talk about the issue.

Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele are at the center of the latest rumblings around U.S. players seeking compensation for playing in the Ryder Cup :: IMAGO / IPA Sport

Stefan Schauffele, the father and agent of Cantlay’s buddy, Xander Schauffele, freely admitted it when approached on Saturday after reports surfaced that Cantlay was going hatless at the Ryder Cup as a way to protest the fact that players are not compensated.

The older Schauffele joked that Cantlay was not wearing a cap as way to avoid unsightly tan lines in advance of his Monday wedding in Rome. But he told Sports Illustrated that, yeah, the players should be paid. And then he shared the same stuff with several other outlets over the weekend. The Times UK wrote a story where Stefan Schauffele also said that his son opted out of participating in the Netflix golf documentary, which put his Ryder Cup participation in doubt and was the catalyst for a vote among the team, which unanimously agreed to keep Netflix cameras out of the team room.

Player payment is ominous territory to cover, not only because of the current climate in the game—which has seen the LIV Golf League drive up the price to the point where the PGA Tour can’t afford such an outlay—but also due to the idea backfiring all of those years ago.

Mark O’Meara, a two-time major champion and World Golf Hall of Famer, never got a Ryder Cup captaincy following his 1999 push for pay. He led a group of players named Tiger Woods, Phil Mickelson and David Duval, who also wondered why the organizers could profit so handsomely off the backs of those who provided the show.

While the dialogue never stuck to the other three, O’Meara paid a price. (It is interesting that for a time, one of the early renditions of the World Golf Championship had a small field earmarked for only those who made the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup teams; with no cut, it was a form of payment.)

Cantlay apparently doesn’t care. His answers to various questions about the money issues in the game typically come with a measured, cryptic response. He’s a member of the PGA Tour Policy Board, and he flirted with LIV Golf extensively. He’s made it clear he was not happy with the secrecy of the talks that led to a framework agreement with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, as has Schauffele. And there is still a long way to go in that situation.

But here’s the unpopular opinion as it relates to Ryder Cup pay (and for that matter, the Presidents Cup): The players have a point.

The event is a massive money-making endeavor. In Europe, venues are put up for bid years in advance, and it’s not cheap to get the Ryder Cup. Not only does the initial fee run into eight figures (dollars, euros, pounds), a requirement to host a DP World Tour event is also part of the package, as well as typically providing for free all of the amenities on site.

And that is before television rights, tickets, hospitality and merchandise pull in big money as well. For years, the DP World Tour has used profits from the Ryder Cup to help finance its entire operation over a four-year period. The DP World Tour is not on the same financial footing as the PGA Tour and, in general, loses money in non–Ryder Cup years but brings in a nice profit in years it’s played in the United States and hits the lottery when it’s played in Europe.

It works differently in the United States, where the PGA of America controls the event and generally pays a site fee to the host course. (This is why you typically see better venues in the United States.) But there are still massive television rights fees, ticket sales, hospitality and merchandise from which the PGA of America reaps the benefit.

Why shouldn’t the players get some of that?

Without them, there is no show. And while they are hugely compensated in other ways, that misses the point. Unless they are working on behalf of a charity, golfers get paid for their time away from tournament golf. All those involved in a working capacity at the Ryder Cup get paid as well. It only seems fair that on one of the biggest stages, they get some, too.

Sure, they get wined and dined. All travel is first class, as are accommodations. The golf bodies take care of the caddies, too. Not a penny comes out of a player’s pocket and, for some, there might be endorsement bonuses for making the team. (Brooks Koepka quite possibly got a lucrative bonus for making the U.S. team from LIV Golf, and all LIV players have major championship bonuses in their deals.)

The problem is that it’s a bad look for the players to advocate for this. It was more than 20 years ago and remains so today. The public doesn’t buy the idea that these guys need more money, and they appreciate the event even more because no prize funds are at stake.

“The Ryder Cup represents true sport,” said Luke Donald, the European captain who played on four winning teams and now has a winning captaincy. “You saw it with some of the passion at the end there [on Saturday]. It’s a passionate event. It’s about pride. It’s about representing your country. It’s about coming together as a team.

“It’s the purest form of competition we have, and I think because of that, the fans love it. There’s no extrinsic motivation involved. It’s purely, purely sport. That’s what makes it so special.”

U.S. captain Zach Johnson expressed similar views, and it’s hard to argue with that view. Ultimately, the players will lose in the court of public opinion when it comes to being paid for the Ryder Cup, even if there is a reasoned, non-emotional argument to be made that they deserve some form of compensation.