Woods’s sentiment has remained consistent over the years.
NASSAU, Bahamas – Tiger Woods supports the idea of American players being paid to play in the Ryder Cup – but with one stipulation. He said players should give their share to charity.
Woods’s sentiment has remained consistent over the years.
“I would have to say that going back to my playing days, we had the same conversation back in ’99 and it was we didn’t want to get paid, we wanted to give more money to charity, and the media turned it around against us and said we want to get paid,” Woods said on Tuesday during a press conference ahead of the Hero World Challenge. “No, the Ryder Cup itself makes so much money, why can’t we allocate it to various charities? And what’s wrong with each player, 12 players getting a million dollars and the ability to divvy out to amazing charities that they’re involved in that they can help out? It’s their hometowns, where they’re from, all the different junior golf associations or endeavors that the members are involved in.”
In an Aug. 11, 1999 story in the Washington Post, 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.”
The PGA Tour began giving a $250,000 stipend to competitors beginning at the 2022 Presidents Cup, which they no longer are required to give to charity. A Tour spokesman told Golfweek in October that it was considering following suit for Ryder Cup players. Sources said that it would be more than the $250,000. The Telegraph later reported the figure to be $400,000. Woods has upped the dollar amount he’d like to see.
“I hope they would get $5 million each and donate it all to charity, different charities. I think it’s great. What’s wrong with that?” he said.
Rory McIlroy of Team Europe celebrates winning his point on the 17th green during the Sunday singles matches of the 2023 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone Golf Club on October 01, 2023, in Rome, Italy. (Photo by Naomi Baker/Getty Images)
Rory McIlroy, speaking in Dubai recently, said he’d be willing to pay to play in the Ryder Cup. He added: “I don’t think any of the 24 players on either team needs that 400 grand. Every two years, there are 104 weeks and 103 weeks you can play golf and get paid.”
“That’s fine, that’s their right to say that,” Woods said. “I just think that the event is so big that I think that we can give so much money to different charities, and I’ve said that since ’99 when we had the Brookline negotiations. If the Europeans want to pay to be in the Ryder Cup, that’s their decision to do that, that’s their team. I know when it’s on European soil that it subsidizes most of their Tour, so it is a big event for the European Tour and if they want to pay to play in it, so be it.”
Woods added: “It’s never really been about getting paid, it’s how can we allocate funds to help our sport or help things that we believe in back home, because it’s so hard to get onto that team, there’s only 12 guys. What’s wrong with being able to allocate more funds?”
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.
Golfweek has learned that the players and captains received a “stipend” that they can do with as they please.
MONTREAL – Money makes the world go round. Over the past few years, we’ve seen all too well how greed is harming golf. It’s infiltrated the Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup too, team events where there is no purse.
Golfweek has learned that the 24 players and nine captains who participated in the Presidents Cup last month received a “stipend” of $250,000 that they can do with as they please. That is a departure from previous decades when the competitors were not paid for their participation, but each competitor allocated an equal portion of the funds generated to charities of his choice.
“As part of the Tour’s overall total compensation program, distributions for the Presidents Cup have been adjusted to reflect the changing landscape of charitable giving, allowing players and captains the flexibility to support their respective foundations or personal charitable priorities,” the Tour said in a statement to Golfweek.
According to the Tour, $56.4 million has been donated from event proceeds since the inception of the Presidents Cup in 1994, including a guarantee of at least $1 million to the host site (since 2022). That’s nothing to sneeze at but in past years, the PGA Tour proudly boasted of the charitable contributions made by the players. As recently as 2019, the event media guide listed the charity and donation amount given by each individual player dating to 1994 – including how Tiger Woods gave to the Tiger Woods Learning Center and later simply to the Tiger Woods Foundation, Mike Weir to the Notah Begay Foundation, Fred Couples to the Frank Sinatra Foundation, Ernie Els to Els for Autism, Webb Simpson and Bill Haas to Wake Forest Athletics and Justin Thomas, Jimmy Walker and Patrick Reed among players who gave to the American Junior Golf Association (AJGA).
When I couldn’t find that information readily available this time, I inquired with the media relations staff thinking it would make a nice story – how about that Scottie Scheffler, what a swell guy he is. Turned out I stumbled on a bigger story in that Presidents Cup team members – including captains and assistant captains – no longer are mandated to make a charitable donation (although those spoken to by Golfweek claimed they still would do so).
Prior to 2022, each player, captain and captain’s assistant received $150,000 to give to a charity/charities of their choice. Starting in 2022, players and captains receive $250,000 of which they are able to use as they see fit and are not required to disclose how or where they direct the funds. According to multiple members of Team USA, this decision was made to unburden the Tour from having to coordinate and reimburse all of the travel expenses for the support teams – coaches, trainers, family, etc. – and put the onus back on the player to make the arrangements out of their stipend. But that stipend has grown to $250,000, equal to top 10 money at the Zozo Championship last week or the same as No. 31 (Brian Harman) received in FedEx Cup bonus money. An extra $100K should cover expenses and leave a good chunk of change to give more to charity.
Does this change have anything to do with the threat of LIV Golf and players having more leverage? The timing of the change – ahead of the 2022 Presidents Cup and during the rise of LIV Golf – fits the timeline of when the top pros received a number of concessions initiated to retain their loyalty –and this likely was an easy one to be rubber stamped by senior management without reaching the board level. Adding to the suspicion: It was a change that went unspoken.
The PGA Tour didn’t provide answers to a handful of specific questions but did send a statement. Over the past 25 years, the Presidents Cup has impacted more than 475 charities in 18 countries worldwide. With many of the Tour players choosing to support charities in their local communities, the Tour promised to give back a certain amount to the local community.
“The charitable mission of the Presidents Cup remains unchanged,” the Tour said in a written statement. “The current charitable distribution plan guarantees a lasting impact in the host city or region of at least $1 million,” said Matt Rapp, the Tour’s Senior Vice President, Championship Management, which runs the Presidents Cup among several prominent Tour events.
In 2022, the Presidents Cup totaled an overall charitable contribution of $2 million with the majority directed to local Charlotte-based non-profit organizations, highlighted by $575,000 towards the Charlotte Mayor’s Racial Equity Initiative (MREI). (The Presidents Cup earlier this year made a charitable donation of $100,000 to the Montreal Canadiens Children’s Foundation.)
The statement continued: “As part of the Tour’s overall total compensation program, distributions for the Presidents Cup have been adjusted to reflect the changing landscape of charitable giving, allowing players and captains the flexibility to support their respective foundations or personal charitable priorities.”
Team USA celebrates on the 18th green after clinching the 2022 Presidents Cup at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo: Peter Casey-USA TODAY Sports)
Left unclear is who initiated this increase from $150,000 to $250,000 and the change to a stipend where the players technically don’t have to give any of it to charity. Are sponsors such as Cognizant and Rolex aware that it is no longer a requirement for each competitor to allocate an equal portion of the funds generated to charities of his choice? And what impact will this change have on the Ryder Cup? At the Presidents Cup, Golf.com’s Nick Piastkowski asked several players during their allotted press conference whether players should be compensated for their participation in the biennial events.
“That question is a bit of a grenade, to be honest,” Xander Schauffele said. “I think there’s no place for a player to talk about prize money in this sort of event. That’s for other people to decide. Our preference is our preference. We’re here and we’re happy to play amongst each other and represent our country.
“It’s such a hot topic, but I think it’s pretty brutal to ask any player that because there’s no right answer a player can give you.”
“I don’t know. I haven’t really spent much time thinking about it,” Max Homa said. “I could play devil’s advocate to both. One, like these events make a ton of money and we are on TV playing the golf. But on the other side of the coin, I think we have been given so much as professional golfers and to get to do this is about as fun as you’ll ever have. So to do it for free is also fine.
“I get everyone’s point of view. I don’t think it should ever really be a hot-button topic. I don’t think it’s the end of the world either way. I get why there’s — why it can become a talking point. I just don’t think that it’s a massive issue either way.”
It certainly became a hot-button topic at the most recent Ryder Cup. For Rome, which hosted in 2023, U.S. players received $200,000 to donate to charities of their choice. With prices skyrocketing for tickets to $750 on the weekend at Bethpage Black for the 2025 edition, it begs the question of what does that mean for the player’s cut? A PGA of America official said that it is “currently reviewing that program and an announcement would be made before the beginning of the year.”
During the PGA of America Surprise and Delight at Black Course at Bethpage State Park Golf Course on April 13, 2024 in Farmingdale, New York. (Photo by Mike Stobe/Getty Images)
Golfweek has learned that the figure is expected to rise and at least match and possibly top the amount given to players in the Presidents Cup. In addition, sources say that the amount will become a stipend as well rather than a direct payment to a charity of the player’s choice. The play-for-pay debate heated up at last year’s Ryder Cup when it was reported that Patrick Cantlay refused to wear a Team USA hat in protest. Cantlay has repeatedly stated that this had nothing to do with him playing hatless and that he is proud to represent his country and pour all of his energy into winning points for his team.
Schauffele’s father, Stefan, was the most outspoken in addressing these growing concerns that while it is a romantic notion that these team competitions have no purse and the players are playing for country and pride, there’s a competing sense of the players being exploited as the events have become enormous cash cows for the non-profit associations.
“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 an event that has become a fifth major championship. O’Meara argued that 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.”
Tiger Woods tees off on the third hole during the Day 1 at the Presidents Cup.
Woods, who is now on the Tour’s board of directors and was the captain of the 2019 Presidents Cup team (and certainly in line to be Ryder Cup whenever he sees fit), is finally getting what he always wanted.
Commenting on their Presidents Cup stipends, several competitors gave details of their current contributions and future intentions. U.S. team member Tony Finau said he would still be designating his stipend to charity through the Tony Finau Foundation. “Almost all of it minus my expenses to get there,” he said. Finau’s foundation improves the lives of inner city kids in Salt Lake City. Finau, who is an advocate for literacy, said proceeds from being a member of the U.S. side at five of the last six Cups helped his foundation fund the opening of a literacy center in August and hire a teacher who is offering ESL classes.
Stewart Cink, who served as a U.S. assistant captain, said his foundation splits its financial giving between a neo-natal intensive care unit and breast cancer center in Gwinnett County, a suburb of Atlanta where he lives, and a ministry.
“We’re in it for babies and mamas,” he said. “To be a part of something like this and know it’s a charity event and in the end the winners are the communities and Montreal. It just reinforces how great a game golf is.”
Patrick Cantlay has made junior golf in Southern California one of his foundation’s top priority, underwriting four elite tournaments including a finale at Virginia Country Club, where he grew up. He also supports college scholarships via the First Responders Children Foundation.
Jason Day said he would give 100 percent of his stipend to Brighter Days Foundation, the foundation he started with his wife, Ellie, which benefits the likes of Habitat for Humanity, Blessings in a Backpack and the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center – Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute. Only South Korean Tom Kim said he didn’t have a specific charity he supported.
Is it still accurate to say that players aren’t paid to participate in the team competitions? That’s more of a gray area than ever but 2025 U.S. Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley may have provided the truest comment of all.
“Whether it was for a lot of money or no money, we would show up,” he said.
There’s a way for the PGA of America to more comfortably underwrite operations, fund championships.
Numerous constituencies are irked about ticket prices for the 2025 Ryder Cup, a stout $749 per day that’s equivalent to fees for nine weekend rounds at Bethpage Black, or the beer budget for a couple foursomes of its habitués. The most vocal are golf fans who are feeling gouged or simply priced out, and commentators (at least those not proudly in the tank for the PGA of America), who see pricing wholly at odds with both the municipal ethos of the venue and the ‘grow the game’ mandate of the organizers.
One constituency we haven’t heard from is the players who compete for the U.S., but one assumes that smoke has been billowing from Patrick Cantlay’s overheating calculator as he tallies gate receipts, broadcast rights, hospitality sales and merchandising, while wondering why his sort get only a $200,000 charitable donation in their names. He won’t be the only player looking askance at this controversy. That will pain the PGA of America, which prizes nothing more than being positively reviewed in the locker room.
How organizers arrived at $749 is neither clear nor relevant. They obviously believe the market will support it, and they’ll be proved correct. The Ryder Cup will sell out, but then so did last year’s U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club, when too many tickets went to club members who preferred to sit in suites and rattle their jewelry than to cheer on the rope line. The PGA of America runs on a four-year budget cycle funded by proceeds from domestic Ryder Cups, so the revenue generated at Bethpage is crucial to bridge the organization until Hazeltine in ’29.
Of course, there’s a way for the PGA of America to more comfortably underwrite operations, fund championships and devote greater resources to the education and employment goals of its members: it could sell the Ryder Cup.
Regardless of the fact that the last five Cups have been decidedly short on drama and close finishes, the event will never be more valuable than it is at this moment, when private equity is circling the sport’s biggest assets. There are compelling reasons why the PGA of America should cash in with a sale, beyond no longer having to indulge gripes about ticket prices.
Keegan Bradley of the United States tees off on the 1st hole during the Morning Fourballs of the 2014 Ryder Cup on the PGA Centenary course at the Gleneagles Hotel on September 26, 2014 in Auchterarder, Scotland. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)
Given the division and evident erosion of the audience for men’s professional golf, the media rights landscape could be unfavorable when the Ryder Cup broadcast deal expires in 2031. The day could also be near when players make their move — demanding not just payment for participating, but an ownership stake. Why assume their power grab ends with the PGA Tour when other organizations also profit off their work? The argument about representing one’s country will be no governor since players have air cover on that with the Olympics and Presidents Cup. Which points to the most obvious buyer of a Ryder Cup: the players themselves, through the vehicle of PGA Tour Enterprises, the for-profit entity now flush with private investment cash.
The Ryder Cup would surely fetch several billion dollars at sale, which in the hands of an investment team would lavishly endow the PGA of America’s objectives and championships in perpetuity. For a trade association, that is forever money.
Still, there will be internal resistance to selling. Pride and legacy will factor, a desire to retain ownership of two of the sport’s five biggest assets, even if their original counterparts in Europe (the PGA of Great Britain and Ireland) long ago receded to ‘founding partner’ status while cashing a check. But the most daunting hurdle will be the PGA of America’s governance structure, in which its officers—often with parochial concerns—wield tremendous power over the decision-making of a billion-dollar global enterprise.
The benefits that PGA members enjoy at Ryder Cups (like access and hospitality) could be protected in any transaction, but the perks enjoyed by some serving and former officers (like being traveled hither and yon to the Ryder Cup) are another matter, and that group is a powerful bloc within the association. There are a few snouts that won’t easily be dislodged from the trough.
In defending ticket prices to reporter Sean Zak, the Ryder Cup championship director, Bryan Karns, said that his lens is helping the PGA of America’s 30,000 members grow the game on the front lines. That noble mission would be made easier with a substantial endowment generated by a sale rather than being cobbled together every four years, and it wouldn’t be hostage to a volatile market or a pandemic, as happened with the last Cup held in the U.S.
Given the troubled state of men’s golf, a raft of tough decisions awaits whoever takes over as CEO of the PGA of America (Seth Waugh stepped down in June and a successor has not yet been named). How best to future-proof the association’s ability to serve its members and mission will be a high priority. Perhaps the next leader can persuade colleagues that a clear path to safeguarding the next century is to exploit this moment and sell what was built over the last century.
The Ryder Cup is coming to Farmingdale in 2025 for a few days of USA vs. Europe action at Bethpage Black, which means it’s going to get ROWDY on one of the toughest tests on all of golf.
Getting a ticket requires winning a “random selection process“, with tickets going on sale in November of 2024. But after that, what’s the cost?
It turns out it’s A LOT: $255.57 for practice days, $423.64 on Wednesday, and then just under $750 (!) for Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Those apparently include food and beverage, but still! That’s a lot of money.
Golf fans on social media had a lot of thoughts about this as they caught wind of it:
I would like to go on the record now and say that if Europe wins the Ryder Cup at Bethpage because the crowds were turned into a polite snooze fest like LACC by the insane ticket prices, it's going to go down as a massive own goal. pic.twitter.com/wnAOP72lqA
If you want to go see all 3 days (Fri-Sun) at the Ryder Cup in Long Island next year then you're paying $2,500 without fees or taxes. There is a price gouging crisis and in live sports. It affects the game day atmosphere and tv experience. #RyderCup#PGATour#LivGolfpic.twitter.com/YYNcZlwwHW
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.”
