Tiger Woods has weighed in on the debate surrounding Team USA’s stars being paid to compete in the Ryder Cup.
Keegan Bradley’s men are in line to each receive $400,000 (£315,000) to don the stars and stripes at Bethpage Black next autumn.
The Americans’ move to reverse an age-old tradition of teeing it up at the biennial showdown for nothing more than the honor has been viewed by many as a crass money-grabbing exercise.
Woods, who has represented the USA a total of eight times at the transatlantic face-off and had even been touted as a potential captain for the Bug Apple bust-up, finally revealed his verdict on the controversy.
But in a somewhat surprising move, the 48-year-old backed the decision to break the 100-year tradition.
Yet, while the 15-time major winner called for his countrymen to be expensed millions for their efforts in the battle against the Europeans, he didn’t necessarily believe the money should go straight into their pockets.
Tiger Woods has weighed in on the debate surrounding Team USA’s Ryder Cup stars being paid
Keegan Bradley’s men are in line to each receive $400,000 to don the stars and stripes in 2025
Cantlay’s refusal to don a cap in Rome was widely interpreted as a resurrection of the petition
‘I hope they would get $5 million each and donate it all to charity, different charities,’ the golf legend declared during a press conference at the Hero World Challenge Tuesday.
‘Going back to my playing days, we had the same conversation back in ’99 and it was [that] 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 added.
‘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.’
The US pay deal has not yet been ratified owing as the PGA of America, which oversees the team, is in the process of appointing a new chief executive. However it is expected to be waved through before the 2025 match.
The Americans’ desire for a share of the profits was most glaringly demonstrated by Patrick Cantlay’s hat protest in Rome last year.
Cantlay’s refusal to don a cap in Rome was widely interpreted as a resurrection of the petition for players to have their slice of the cake, with the calls then echoed by Stefan Schauffele, the father of his team-mate and two-time major champion Xander.
Under the current US system, the PGA of America hands out $200,000 per player, with half allocated to charities of each golfer’s choice and the other half going to golf programs.
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Tiger Woods delivers verdict on Team USA’s decision to pay Ryder Cup stars
