However, according to the report, Garcia has decided to pay his fines and serve his suspension. He is expected to be eligible for competition beginning in 2025.
In a statement provided to bunkered, a DP World Tour spokesperson said: “Sergio Garcia submitted his application to return to membership of the DP World Tour for the 2025 season ahead of the deadline on Sunday November 17.”
Last year, Garcia finished third in LIV Golf’s season-long individual standings and picked up a win in his native Spain at Valderrama.
Once he pays his fines and serves the suspension, he can return to play for the DP World Tour and officially be eligible for the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black in New York. During his career, Garcia has compiled a 25-13-7 record in the Ryder Cup.
Last month, at a “One Year Out” Ryder Cup press conference, European captain Luke Donald said this about Garcia: “He thinks he can play. He wants to play. I don’t think he has talked to me about being an assistant captain, but again, he would have to re-join the tour for him to be eligible. He’s certainly very interested in doing that. He understands everything that’s involved and again, the decision has to go to him whether he’s prepared to do all that.
“If you fulfill the regulations and the rules that the DP World Tour set, then you’re eligible. There’s a bunch of LIV guys that play on LIV who are eligible now so that I can pick them at will.”
“But the Ryder Cup is so much more than that, especially to the Europeans and to this tour.”
On Wednesday, The Telegraph in London reported that members of Team USA at the Ryder Cup will be paid roughly $400,000, and that figure is likely to be ratified. That lines up with what Golfweek reported last month, which was players on the team are set to be paid for next year’s biennial bash at Bethpage Black in New York.
When asked about this report, European stalwart Rory McIlroy said he’d pay his way to participate in the storied battle.
“I personally would pay for the privilege to play on the Ryder Cup,” McIlroy told BBC Sport after the first round of the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai, where the Northern Irishman is tied for the lead with Tyrrell Hatton through 18 holes. “The two purest forms of competition in our game right now are the Ryder Cup and the Olympics, and it’s partly because of that, the purity of no money being involved.”
McIlroy then argued there are plenty of opportunities throughout the year to make money on the golf course.
“I don’t think any of the 24 players on either team needs that 400 grand,” he said. “Every two years, there are 104 weeks and 103 weeks you can play golf and get paid.”
He does, however, understand the issue, as the Ryder Cup is one of the largest revenue generators in the game.
“I can see the other side of the argument because the Ryder Cup does create a lot of revenue. It is one of the probably top five biggest sporting events in the world. So I get the argument that the talent should be or could be getting paid.
“But the Ryder Cup is so much more than that, especially to the Europeans and to this tour.”
Luke Donald celebrates with Justin Rose, Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Matt Fitzpatrick and teammates of Team Europe after winning the 2023 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone Golf Club in Rome, Italy. (Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)
The 26-time PGA Tour winner did reveal that members of Team Europe have spoken with captain Luke Donald about the situation and have determined that the money could be used in different and more beneficial ways.
“We have all had a conversation with Luke about it over the past few weeks because we obviously heard,” he said. “The common consensus among us is that $5 million would be better off spent elsewhere on the DP World Tour to support other events or even to support the Challenge Tour.”
The Ryder Cup has long been about emotion and playing for not only your teammates but country. McIlroy doesn’t want the money to change that.
“I think we would all welcome money if it didn’t change the dynamic but the money really would change the dynamic,” he said.
“That’s why I think everyone is like, let’s not do that.”
Tickets for the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black in New York have sold out, according to the PGA of America. The biennial bash between the United States and Europe is slated for Sept. 26-28, 2025.
When ticket prices were released last month, Golf Twitter went into a frenzy over the hefty price tag. Wednesday tickets — practice round — were listed at $255.27, Thursday tickets — celebrity matches, practice round — came in at $423.64 and Friday-Sunday tickets — match days — were available for a whopping $749.51.
Luke Donald will lead Team Europe yet again after his victory in Rome last year, while Keegan Bradley will captain the Americans.
Team USA has won the last two Ryder Cups held in the States (2016, 2021).
A long-rumored change seems to be finally happening.
As Golfweek reported last month, players on the United States Ryder Cup team are set to be paid for next year’s biennial bash at Bethpage Black in New York. The Telegraph in London reported Wednesday the Americans will be paid roughly $400,000 per player, and that figure is likely to be ratified.
Sources told Golfweek that similar to this year’s Presidents Cup, the Ryder Cup payments would become a stipend rather than a direct payment to a charity of the player’s choice. At Marco Simone for the 2023 Ryder Cup, U.S. players received $200,000 to donate to charities of their choice.
The Telegraph reports there are no plans for European players to be paid.
As Golfweek previously reported, the play-for-pay debate heated up at last year’s Ryder Cup when it was reported Patrick Cantlay refused to wear a Team USA hat in protest. Cantlay has repeatedly stated this had nothing to do with him playing hatless and he is proud to represent his country and pour all of his energy into winning points for his team.
“If they make profit off this and finance their organization of almost 29,000 [PGA of America] members for four years with the proceeds earned on the backs of these guys here, well, then they should share or they shouldn’t be allowed to do that,” Stefan told reporters in Rome.
The Ryder Cup charitable contributions began 25 years ago after a player protest became public at the 1999 British Open. After much debate about how the Ryder Cup profits were disbursed, players received $100,000. Several prominent American players, including Mark O’Meara and Payne Stewart, indicated they had concerns about what was happening to the millions of dollars generated by the event. O’Meara argued players should be paid more than what was a $5,000 travel stipend at the time for the event.
In an Aug. 11, 1999, story in The Washington Post, Tiger Woods said, “I would like to see us receive whatever the amount is, whether it’s $200,000, $300,000, $400,000, $500,000 and I think we should be able to keep the money and do whatever we see fit. I personally would donate all of it to charity. With all the money that’s being made, we should have a say in where it goes.”
Woods, who’s on the Tour’s board of directors and was captain of the 2019 Presidents Cup team, is finally getting what he always wanted.
Keegan Bradley was asked about payments at the 2024 Presidents Cup, responding: “Whether it was for a lot of money or no money, we would show up.”
One European Ryder Cup player told The Telegraph:
They can do whatever they want, but 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.
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 PGA of America declined to comment to The Telegraph.
We’re just less than a year from the 2025 Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black, which means it’s time to look at the (way too early) standings for automatic qualification onto the teams.
The qualification process is simple for both sides: the top-six players will earn automatic selections, and then the captains, Keegan Bradley and Luke Donald, will get six picks each to complete the teams.
There’s a new qualification process for the European side this year. There will be only one Ryder Cup Points List operational in the 2024-25 qualification period, which uses points earned in accordance with a new tournament banding structure. With the new system and the qualification process starting only a couple months ago, the rankings for the Europeans will change drastically in the coming months.
Europeans must be members of the DP World Tour, as well. So LIV Golf stars like Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton will be eligible if they meet the DP World Tour’s criteria.
For the Americans, there’s a group of three golfers who stood out in the majors in 2024 who have a big head start to be on the 2025 squad, though every spot remains up for grabs over the next year.
Bradley and Donald both said they would like their teams to bond ahead of the Ryder Cup next year.
European Ryder Cup Captain Luke Donald is playing the underdog card.
Donald is back for a second tour of duty, but this time he faces the unenviable task of attempting to win on the road when the biennial competition resumes Sept. 26-28 at Bethpage Black in Farmington, New York.
The home team has won the last five editions of the Ryder Cup, which is why Donald claims one of the hardest things to do is win an away Ryder Cup and his side – despite winning 10 of the last 14 matches – will be the underdog.
“When you’re playing an away Ryder Cup, I think you have to be the underdog,” said Donald, who was a competitor in 2012, the last time Europe won on foreign soil, during a press conference on Tuesday in New York. “Just looking historically, Whistling Straits, the result there was very one-sided, Hazeltine was pretty one-sided, Valhalla. We were fortunate to come back at Medinah but the last few times we’ve played away the results have been pretty one-sided towards the U.S., so, yes, in a tough environment we will be the underdogs.”
U.S. Captain Keegan Bradley wasn’t buying that line of thinking.
“These guys really love playing for Luke, and they’re going to love coming into Bethpage and try to shut up the fans. It’s a very unifying thing to be on a team and come into a hostile environment,” said Bradley, who won the clinching point on foreign soil recently at the Presidents Cup at Royal Montreal in Canada. “We know how tough they are, we know how great of match play players they are and how much they care about the Ryder Cup. The home team has a bit of an advantage but they get to come in us against the world and that’s always tough to play against.”
US team captain Keegan Bradley, left, and Europe team captain Luke Donald speak during a press conference at Times Center. Mandatory Credit: Lucas Boland-Imagn Images
Both captains addressed the possibility of a “hostile environment” in New York crossing the line into inappropriate and unruly behavior. Bradley dubbed the fans as “part of the team” and expects them to be “loud and proud” and passionate supporters, but also respectful to the other team. He noted precautions will be in place with decorum monitors inside the ropes who will remove any bad apples from the crowd.
“Listen, you come into Yankee Stadium, you come into Madison Square Garden, you come into these places, it’s a tough place to play and Luke and the boys know that,” Bradley said. “I have totally faith in the fans. They’re going to be loud and they’re going to be passionate and PGA of America is going to do a great job to make sure everything is right.”
“The Ryder Cup is special because it is spirited, passions are high, energy is high,” Donald said. “You don’t want to see the spirit of the Ryder Cup endangered…we’re looking forward to playing in front of a New York crowd. It’s going to be fun, it’s going to be feisty, it’s going to be spirited.”
“It’s really important to us, the U.S. side, that it is a fair place to play for both teams,” Bradley added. “Nobody on either team wants this to get uncomfortable or weird out there.”
There wasn’t much news shared by either captain. Bradley did confirm he will be keeping the same point system in place for the six automatic qualifiers and he will stick with six captain’s picks. He also reiterated he will have to make the top six in order to be a playing captain.
“It’s always a goal of mine to play on the Ryder Cup teams. It’s so far off now that I’m not going to worry about it. Once we get closer to the tournament and I’m up there on the points list, we’ll start to think about it. I’m focused now on being the captain of the team, and that’s it,” Bradley said.
He also said with the Presidents Cup behind him, he would be announcing his remaining vice captains in the coming month, and didn’t dispel the notion of taking either winning Presidents Cup captain Jim Furyk or 2019 Presidents Cup captain Tiger Woods.
US team captain Keegan Bradley, left, and Europe team captain Luke Donald speak at a press conference at Times Center. Mandatory Credit: Lucas Boland-Imagn Images
When asked about choosing LIV players, Bradley repeated his usual line that he wants “the 12 best players” on his team. Donald said any players will have to adhere to the DP Tour’s rules. He has been in constant contact with the likes of Jon Rahm, Tyrrell Hatton and Sergio Garcia and that as long as they follow the rules in place for DP World Tour members, he will consider them for the team. Garcia, for one, would need to rejoin the circuit to garner consideration. Of Rahm, who played in the Spanish Open recently and lost in a playoff, Donald said, “It was great to see him do what he needed to do to remain eligible.”
Bradley and Donald both said they would like their teams to bond ahead of the Ryder Cup next year. Many of the members of the U.S. team came into the last Ryder Cup in Italy rusty with too long of a layoff between the conclusion of the Tour Championship and the Ryder Cup.
“We’re talking all options with the guys. I’m not going to tell a grown man what they have to do and what they don’t have to do, but the boys are really interested in coming in prepared,” Bradley said. “There are a couple of options for that. One is going to play, one is all getting together and having some matches but we’re going to take some measures to be prepared to play.”
Bradley expressed his doubt whether he can do both jobs.
MONTREAL — It’s 361 days until Sept. 26, 2025 when Keegan Bradley will lead a to be determined 12-man U.S. side against Team Europe at the Ryder Cup at Bethpage.
Until his victory at the BMW Championship, one of three FedEx Cup events, he was planning to learn the ropes as an assistant captain to U.S. Presidents Cup Captain Jim Furyk.
“I don’t know what I would’ve done without being here,” Bradley said. “I learned a lot from Jim and Tabitha this week. It was the best job I’ve ever seen done as captain and the captain’s wife.”
As soon as Bradley was announced as U.S. Ryder Cup captain in July, he said he’d like to be a playing captain if he were to make the team, which would make him the first to do so since Arnold Palmer in 1964. But after experience the crucible of simply being a player and watching Furyk in the role of conductor, Bradley expressed his doubt whether he can do both jobs.
“After going through this, I don’t know if I can, actually. I’d love to but I can’t imagine doing Jim’s job and playing. I don’t know how you can physically do it. I will have great assistants; Brandt will be one of them. I’m going to cross that bridge,” he said without finishing his thought and concluding, “I’m going to have to do some special stuff to get on that team.”
Asked again during the winning team’s press conference, Bradley reiterated what he had said outside on the 18th green in the aftermath of his win in singles.
“I would love to join these guys and play next year. I don’t know how that would ever be possible, but seeing what Jim did, seeing how nervous I was today to play. But I’m going to push that down the road. Like I said, if I make the team on points, I’ll consider playing, but outside of that, I won’t do that because this is really important to me next year,” he said.
“I don’t care about my personal gains of playing in the tournament, I only care about winning the Ryder Cup,” Bradley added. “I think the best way to do that is to let these boys play and let them do what they do. I don’t see it happening, but we’ll see.
“I think it’s arguably one of the most important Ryder Cups the United States has ever had. We’re going to go in there ready to play, and we’re going to go in there to win the Ryder Cup.”
Bradley may have bypassed assistant captain duties at the Presidents Cup to focus on being a player last week, but he still got an inside look and head start on what it takes to be a winning captain.
“We’re going to copy a lot of what Jim Furyk did this week. He set a culture here for us, and we’re going to carry that over into Bethpage, and I hope a lot of these 12 are on that team,” Bradley said.
While well-known as a major champion, Bradley’s career has experienced a meteoric rise this summer.
Forgive Keegan Bradley if he feels his life has been a whirlwind this summer.
Just two months ago, the Jupiter, Florida, resident’s career had seemingly plateaued — his world ranking fluctuating from 14 to 21 in the last year. He had become known for the heart-wrenching scene in “Full Swing” when cameras were in his home as he received the crushing news from captain Zach Johnson he had not been chosen for the 2023 U.S. Ryder Cup team.
That, now, must feel like a lifetime ago for the Vermont native. Since, Bradley was a stunning choice to captain the 2025 Ryder Cup team after many believed Tiger Woods would accept the offer, was named an assistant for the 2024 Presidents Cup at Royal Montreal, became the last man to qualify for the BMW Championship (which earned him a spot in the 2025 signature events) and on Sunday won the BMW, his seventh title on the PGA Tour in 16 years.
That win in Castle Rock, Colo., gives Bradley a real shot at the Tour Championship and $25 million bonus, moving from No. 50 to No. 4 in the FedEx Cup standings.
This is the story Netflix needs to capture.
“I can’t even wrap my head around it,” Bradley said after winning the BMW, and $3.6 million prize money, by one shot over Sam Burns, Ludvig Aberg and Adam Scott.
Keegan Bradley celebrates after a birdie putt on the 18th hole during the first round of the BMW Championship golf tournament at Castle Pines Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
While well-known as a major champion and a two-time member of the U.S. Ryder Cup team, Bradley’s fame and career still have taken a Tim Walz-like meteoric rise this summer.
Bradley, 38, now faces a 13-month grind in which he remains a full-time member of the PGA Tour while adding his captaincy duties, especially for the Ryder Cup. That should mean plenty of conversations with Johnson, who last year was forced to multi-task his duties as captain while playing 19 Tour events between January and heading to Rome for the competition at Marco Simone.
Johnson, though, is 10 years older than Bradley and in a different spot in his professional career. So much so that Bradley is not eliminated from being a part of that Presidents Cup team next month in which he is an assistant captain or even the Ryder Cup team next year as a player-captain.
“I don’t know where that’s going to go, but I’m happy to do whatever … play whatever role they want me to play,” Bradley said. “I think being the Ryder Cup captain has put me into this category of sort of player when they haven’t really had a Ryder Cup captain that’s been playing full-time on the Tour. One of my goals was to make that Presidents Cup team.
“I hope I didn’t throw a huge wrench in everybody’s plans, but I’m proud to be in consideration.”
The last Ryder Cup-playing captain for either side was Arnold Palmer in 1963. And that went pretty well with the U.S. dominating Great Britain, 23-9, and Palmer unbeaten in four matches with three wins and a halve.
If he is on the team, Bradley made it clear it would have to be as one of the six automatic qualifiers.
“It’s going to be really hard for me to make that team, but if I make the team, I’ll play,” Bradley said. “I don’t see myself being a captain’s pick. But I’ll be proud to just be the captain.”
Keegan Bradley walks the first fairway during the second round of the 2024 FedEx St. Jude Championship at TPC Southwind. (Mike Mulholland/Getty Images)
LIV Golf adds scrutiny to job
Being a Ryder Cup captain nowadays comes with more scrutiny, thanks to the formation of LIV Golf.
Ask Johnson, who last year was under the microscope as the first Ryder Cup captain forced to deal with the LIV Golf dilemma. Johnson was for the most part defensive when asked how LIV golfers fit into the equation, especially when asked about Jupiter’s Brooks Koepka, who won the PGA Championship and was runner-up at the Masters in 2023.
Johnson downplayed Koepka’s strong Masters saying, “It’s one week,” a comment on which he surely would liked to have had a mulligan. That was before Koepka won his fifth major at the PGA Championship. Johnson then stumbled around on the topic, raising the question of “chemistry” and saying he’d have a difficult time evaluating LIV golfers because he did not see LIV events.
If the Ryder Cup were this year, we would be having the same conversations about Bryson DeChambeau.
Eventually, Johnson did the right thing and made Koepka one of his six captain’s picks. Koepka was the lone LIV golfer who deserved a spot on the team.
And 13 months out, Bradley already is facing the questions.
“The only weird area is the LIV guys, what they do and where they fall on the list,” Bradley said. “We’re going to have to really get with the captains, get with the team that’s going to be there and figure that out. But I think the system works.
“I’m going to have the best 12 players. So we’ll make sure if some of those guys that we think might make the team, we’ll make sure that they are a member.”
Tom D’Angelo is a senior sports columnist and golf reporter for The Palm Beach Post. He can be reached at tdangelo@pbpost.com.
United States Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley has appointed Brandt Snedeker as one of his vice captains for the 45th Ryder Cup, scheduled for Sept. 26-28, 2025, at Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, New York.
This announcement follows Bradley’s earlier appointment of Webb Simpson as a vice captain, and it adds another experienced voice to the the U.S. team’s locker room. Snedeker, 43 is a veteran of two Ryder Cups, boasting a 4-2-0 career record. He was the only undefeated American player in the 2016 Ryder Cup, going 3-0-0 to help the U.S. team defeat Europe 17-11 at Hazeltine National in Chaska, Minnesota.
“As I’ve started preparing for the 2025 Ryder Cup, I quickly realized that Brandt was someone I wanted by my side,” Bradley said in a release. “Having competed in two Ryder Cups, including a stellar individual performance in 2016, Brandt’s experience and insight will surely be beneficial to our team in the months ahead.”
This will be Snedeker’s first appearance as a vice captain.
“I am so grateful to Keegan and the PGA of America for giving me the opportunity to represent my country in the role of vice captain,” Snedeker said. “The Ryder Cup is unlike anything in our sport, and I hope to bring the passion and pride to help Keegan deliver his vision of what a Ryder Cup in New York should look like. I am so excited to serve alongside my good friend Webb and know we will do everything in our power to help Keegan and the players be ready for a great competition next September at Bethpage Black.”
A native of Nashville, Tennessee, Snedeker has nine PGA Tour wins, with the biggest being the 2012 Tour Championship. He was the PGA Tour Rookie of the Year in 2007. Last week, Snedeker named the 2024 recipient of the PGA Tour’s Payne Stewart Award. The award is presented annually to a professional golfer who best exemplifies Stewart’s steadfast values of character, charity and sportsmanship.
“It’s one of those phone calls, like, I’ve had a lot of phone calls, but I’m not going to forget this one.”
Zach Johnson’s heart was beating fast again.
“I was getting ready to deliver a bomb,” he said of news that would shock the golf world.
Less than one year ago, as U.S. Ryder Cup Captain, Johnson had to break the bad news to Keegan Bradley that Johnson was “going in a different direction” and Bradley wouldn’t be a member of the 12-man team to represent Team USA in Rome. Johnson didn’t use one of his captain’s picks on Bradley and chose Rickie Fowler and Justin Thomas, who finished below Bradley in points.
As Netflix’s “Full Swing 2” showed, Johnson took a deep breath before making his difficult call to Bradley and said, “I do not envy this part of the job.” (Interesting side note: Johnson said he has yet to watch Full Swing 2.)
This time, Johnson got to deliver the good news – the Ryder Cup Committee had selected Bradley to be the captain of the 2025 U.S. team.
“The last time I called you on the phone was one of the more difficult phone calls I’ve ever had,” Johnson recalled as his first words to Bradley on June 23.
“Keegan wasn’t the only one I had to call, you know, and Keegan, to no one’s surprise, specifically mine, was nothing but pure respect and class. I’ve been on that side of the call. It’s awful. It’s hard. But Keegan’s true character came out right there,” Johnson said. “But then I said, ‘I appreciate how you handled that phone call more than you know, because we’re friends.’ And he said, ‘Zach, you don’t have to say that, you know I’ve got your back.’ He’s being serious; he’s being genuine. I said, ‘Just know that this is one of the most honor-packed, joyous phone calls I could ever make.’”
His fondest memory of informing Bradley that the committee, which included Jordan Spieth and Justin Thomas, had picked him for the role was the response of Bradley’s wife.
“I could hear Jillian in the background in a high-pitched voice go, ‘Whaaat?’” Johnson said.
Speaking at his press conference announcing his role, Bradley said he had just driven home with his family from the Travelers Championship in Cromwell, Connecticut, on June 23 when Johnson, and PGA of America CEO Seth Waugh and President John Lindert called.
Bradley shared that Waugh told him: “You know, your number was called, it’s time for you to step up.”
“When he told me that, I sort of, it sort of hit me, you know, that this is a heavy job and this is a group of people that trusted me in this, and it’s time to step up to the plate and be the captain of this team,” Bradley said.
At age 39 when the biennial matches are held at Bethpage Black in September 2025, Bradley will be the youngest captain since Arnold Palmer served as a playing captain at age 34 in 1963. Bradley, who is currently No. 21 in the world, had been a two-time winner on the Tour last season and finished 11th in the Ryder Cup points standings. Johnson said he brought up the possibility of Bradley doing double duty.
“One of the first things we talked about after we asked Keegan to be the captain was, and I was adamant, I said, ‘We believe that you can make his team like, fully, I believe that you can go out and make his team; You can be the first guy on the list,” Johnson said. “And we voiced that. But we also have the ability for personnel and people to surround him where that can be feasible.”
Johnson said his input was valued by the Ryder Cup Committee in the selection process but he tried to take a backseat until called upon.
“I’m on the committee, but I shut up. I really let Jordan and Justin because they’re, I’d say Ryder Cup contemporaries,” Johnson said. “And then some of the PGA executives. It’s their tournament. They have been nothing but gracious in allowing the players to have a voice. The discussion (about the captaincy) happened organically and that’s how it evolves.”
Johnson appreciated the PGA’s gesture to allow him to be the one to let Bradley know that the job of U.S. Ryder Cup Captain belonged to him for 2025.
“It’s one of those phone calls,” Johnson said, “like, I’ve had a lot of phone calls, but I’m not going to forget this one.”
