We take a look at whether or not the American and European players get paid for playing in the Ryder Cup
Do Players Get Paid For Playing In The Ryder Cup?
The Ryder Cup is the ultimate team event in golf, but despite it drawing in millions of pounds in revenue thanks to lucrative TV and sponsorship deal, players still only compete for the pride of winning the Ryder Cup for their respective teams.
Since the Ryder Cup’s inception in 1927 though, players have received some form of compensation for their participation in the team tournament.
Ryder Cup Prize Money
There is no Ryder Cup prize money on offer for players or captains, who play for pride and legacy.
British players received money for travel and a kit allowance for the original Ryder Cup, but that has changed somewhat nearly a century on.
Nowadays European players don’t receive any money, but instead are offered gifts from their captains that are paid out of the Ryder Cup pool – a tradition that Tony Jacklin began when he first captained Europe in 1983.
Meanwhile, the PGA of America give a reported $200,000 to each player, with the money split evenly between educational charities and charities of a player’s choice.
$100,000 is given to the Boys & Girls Club of America, Drive, Chip, and Putt Championship, and PGA Junior League Golf as part of the PGA of America’s choosing, while the other half is dependent on the player’s choice of charity.
This didn’t use to be the case, however, and only changed after the “Battle of Brookline” in 1999, which was shrouded in controversy both on the course and also in relation to the profits.
Related: What you get for being a Ryder Cup player
David Duval, Tiger Woods, Mark O’Meara, and Phil Mickelson all questioned where the reported $63 million profit went, and suggested that they’d like to personally donate their share of the revenue earned by what they saw as a corporate event.
Due to the rules in place, the players weren’t entitled to any of the money, but they managed to strike a deal with organisers to have an input on the donations.
The PGA of America owns the rights to the Ryder Cup when the event takes place in the United States, but they split the profits at a 5:1 ratio with the European Tour.
When the event is hosted in European, the European Tour claims 60 percent of the profits.
Regardless, the players aren’t paid for appearing in the Ryder Cup.
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