Scheffler earned over $62 million (€58.7m) in 2024 making his the highest-earning season in PGA Tour history.
“As far as I’m concerned, I think all of us on the American side are more than willing to play in the Ryder Cup for free,” Scheffler said ahead of the 20-man Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas where last place pays $150,000.
“We’ve been playing in the Ryder Cup for free for a long time. And if they want to pay us to play in the tournament, that’s great.”
While Rory McIlroy said last month he’d pay to play in the Ryder Cup and Scheffler said he had no problem playing for free, he’s not against his team-mates getting paid.
“The last few years they’ve given us some money that we can give to charity, and if someone doesn’t want to take the money for themselves or if you want to give to charity, do whatever, but I don’t think there’s any problem with guys getting paid to play in the Ryder Cup,” he said.
“I think it’s a little bit silly for a tournament that makes hundreds of millions of dollars to ask the players to pay as well, but I think we all would. I definitely would.”
On the DP World Tour, Tom McKibbin makes his first start of the new season at the $6m Nedbank Golf Challenge where Max Homa defends his title.
Meanwhile, Sara Byrne and Lauren Walsh begin their quests for cards at the final stage of the LPGA Q-Series Alabama.
The top 25 and ties after five rounds will be exempt but only players assigned female at birth will be eligible to compete in 2025 after the LPGA and USGA announced separately yesterday that they had changed their gender policies
At the $5m PIF Saudi International, Chinese Taipei’s Chang Wei-lun fired a bogey-free seven-under-par 64 to grab a share of the lead with Thailand’s Sadom Kaewkanjana at Riyadh Golf Club where Graeme McDowell’s three over 74 left him tied for 108th in the 120-man field.
There will be five Irish players in the field at next week’s LIV Golf Promotions event in Saudi Arabia.
Members of the 2023 Walker Cup teams and the 2024 Palmer Cup teams are exempt for the event where the winner will earn a lucrative LIV Golf spot and the top 10 a full exemption into the Asian Tour’s International Series.
Malone amateur Matt McClean, Galway’s Liam Nolan, Laytown and Bettystown’s Alex Maguire and Kilkenny’s Mark Power will be joined by Palmer Cup player Max Kennedy from Royal Dublin but Ballybofey’s Ryan McGuigan, who played the event with Kennedy last year is out of action until April after recently undergoing back surgery.
Nedbank Golf Challenge, 9.0am
Hero World Challenge, 6.30pm
(Both live on Sky Sports Golf)
