NASSAU, Bahamas – If the PGA of America is looking for guidance in what has become a polarizing topic, they could look to the PGA Tour’s policy on paying players to participate in the Presidents Cup.
According to a report in The Telegraph last month, the PGA of America is considering a plan to pay players $400,000 to participate in next year’s Ryder Cup. The PGA of America declined to comment on the report and some of the game’s top players weighed in on the topic this week at the Hero World Challenge.
“I would have to say that going back to my playing days, we had the same conversation back in ’99, 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,” Tiger Woods said Tuesday at Albany. “The Ryder Cup itself makes so much money, why can’t we allocate it to various charities?”
But while Woods leaned into the notion that any payments to players should go to a charity or foundation there is speculation that players would be averse to any stipulations on payments for Ryder Cup participation and the PGA of America has given money ($200,000 recently) to each Ryder Cup player to donate to charity since 1999.
The Tour, however, reached a different solution when it altered its policy regarding payments to Presidents Cup players in 2022. Each player, on both the U.S. and International teams, is given a $250,000 “stipend.”
“The charitable mission of the Presidents Cup remains unchanged, with more than $55 million donated to charity since the Cup’s inception. The current charitable distribution plan guarantees a lasting impact in the host city or region of at least $1 million,” a statement from the Tour read. “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.”
Players can use the Presidents Cup stipend for charities or foundations, but it is not required.
Even if the PGA of America went with a similar policy to the Tour’s, any change would create an interesting dynamic between the U.S. team and the Europeans, who have not pushed for a similar payment structure for the Ryder Cup.
“I personally would pay for the privilege to play on the Ryder Cup,” Rory McIlroy told BBC Sports last month.
Funds from the Ryder Cup in Europe provide critical revenue for the DP World Tour while the PGA of America uses its share of the revenue to support the association’s various programs. The PGA Tour does receive a fee from the PGA of America that is indirectly given to players in various ways including the circuit’s lucrative retirement program.
