Rory McIlroy mentioned Thursday he would pay to seem within the Ryder Cup within the wake of a latest report that the PGA of America may compensate U.S. gamers as a lot as $400,000 to play within the matches subsequent 12 months at Bethpage Black.
“I personally would pay for the privilege to play on the Ryder Cup,” McIlroy informed a handful of reporters following the opening spherical of the season-ending DP World Tour Championship in Dubai, as reported right here by Golf Digest. “I’ve talked about this rather a lot. The 2 purest types of competitors in our sport proper now are the Ryder Cup and the Olympics. Each have purity as a result of no cash is concerned.
“I don’t need to say being paid would taint the match, however it will give it a special really feel. What we’ve achieved a very good job of is being this actually cohesive group over the previous decade. We wouldn’t need something to alter that.”
The Telegraph reported this week that the PGA is ready – pending board approval – to reward the 12 American gamers for his or her participation after the simmering pay-for-play controversy final 12 months in Rome. In latest editions, $200,000 per participant was donated to charity. For reference, the reported $400,000 payout is equal to an 13th-place end on the PGA Tour’s Gamers Championship, which carries a $25 million purse.
However the Ryder Cup’s elevated industrial success – and fan ticket costs for Bethpage which have soared to $750 – have elevated the dialogue about whether or not contributors must be compensated. McIlroy mentioned that European group members have already had talks with captain Luke Donald about any potential fee plans, and although he understands the continued debate, McIlroy believes the cash is greatest used elsewhere on the European facet.
“The Ryder Cup does create loads of income; it’s in all probability one of many high 5 sporting occasions on the planet,” McIlroy mentioned, in response to the report. “However the Ryder Cup is a lot greater than that, particularly to the Europeans and to our tour. We’ve all had a dialog with Luke over the previous few weeks. The consensus is that $5 million or no matter paid to the group can be higher spent elsewhere on the DP World Tour – even to help the Problem Tour.”
Tyrrell Hatton, Shane Lowry and Tommy Fleetwood all informed Digest they supported McIlroy’s feedback and had no real interest in following the Individuals’ lead.
“Pay me nothing or pay me $10 million to play within the Ryder Cup, I’m nonetheless going to do it,” Fleetwood informed Digest. “I’ve genuinely by no means considered getting paid to play. I’ve by no means actually thought it was a factor. So I’m not going to fret about it now. It’s probably we’ll nonetheless have the identical system as we’ve had till now. And we’ll nonetheless play for a similar causes that we’ve at all times performed.”
