Gamesmanship or inflated narrative? Ryder Cup pay-for-play issue follows U.S. team

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. – A member of Team USA rocked back on his heels and couldnâ€t, or wouldnâ€t, stifle an eye roll.

Day 2 of the warmup to the biennial title bout between the United States and Europe had a familiar tone for the red, white and blue with players now enduring questions about stipend-gate — the predictable fallout that was born from the PGA of Americaâ€s attempt to better compensate players for playing the Ryder Cup.

For the U.S. team member, it was an agitated response to what many on this side of the transatlantic divide believe to be a non-story. For those questioning the American teamâ€s motivations, itâ€s an apropos response to what at best was a mishandled attempt to appease players.

Two things can be true.

The PGA of Americaâ€s decision last fall to increase the amount of money given to players who participate in the Ryder Cup for both charitable giving ($300,000) and what was dubbed a “stipend†($200,000) was always going to have a healthy amount of blowback. Team Europe and the Continentâ€s savvy captain Luke Donald were going to make sure of that.

“This [payment] came up and I wanted to get ahead of it and talk to the 12 guys [two years ago] in Rome when it looked like the U.S. were going to do something different with payments,†Donald told Sky Sports. “Every one of them was just like, ‘We donâ€t want to get paid – this isnâ€t a week to get paid.†We have such a strong purpose in this team and what we play for.

“For me, I was very proud of the guys. The ideals of how this Ryder Cup was set up back in the 1920s by Samuel Ryder and I think he would have been proud, too.â€

To be honest, itâ€s a bit of a surprise that Donald, who deftly led the Europeans to a commanding victory in Rome, didnâ€t capitalize on the stipend faux pas even more with an oversized motivational poster in the team room proclaiming, “They play for pay; We play for pride!â€

Donald, subtle as he is, however, will not miss an opportunity to rattle the home team and perhaps even stoke some crowd resentment if the U.S. side stumbles early.

Any good captain would use every tool in his bag, and the stipend situation was always going to be a particularly sharp tool, but thatâ€s not to say the media maelstrom is entirely justified.

The idea that Scottie Scheffler would skip a chance to play for his country if he wasnâ€t getting an extra $200,000 is comical. For context, the world No. 1 has earned roughly $56.8 million (officially) the past two years on the PGA Tour; the Ryder Cup qualification process is a two-year cycle. That would make his $200,000 haul from the PGA of America for this weekâ€s effort .004% of his on-course income the past two years.

Itâ€s not the money that motivates players on either team, but in the modern era with the Ryder Cup generating so much revenue, it was time to rework the compensation policy regardless of how uncomfortable many of this weekâ€s questions have been.

“The PGA of America came to me, they wanted to bring the Ryder Cup into the present day. The charity dollars hadnâ€t changed since 1999 and they asked me to sort of shepherd their way into making it into 2025,†U.S. captain Keegan Bradley said. “I think for everyone, itâ€s a personal decision. A lot of guys arenâ€t comfortable sharing what theyâ€re going to do with their money, but [Iâ€m] going to donate [the entire $500,000, which includes his stipend].â€

Scheffler, for example, declined to give specifics when pressed for what he intended to do with the $500,000, but others had no problem discussing how they planned to use both the stipend and the charitable portion to benefit various charities.

With inclement weather in the forecast for Thursday the PGA of America moved the Ryder Cup opening ceremony to Wednesday at Bethpage.

“Yeah, I think one of the great things about these team events for me is thereâ€s always such a big charitable component to it, and so Iâ€m going to donate the money to my charity,†said Patrick Cantlay, who found himself at the center of the pay-for-play issue two years ago in Rome. “We work with First Responders Childrenâ€s Foundation and we work with the SCPGA Junior Tour and we work with St. Jude and Folds of Honor, and so Iâ€m excited about our continued partnership with those organizations.â€

The PGA of America fashioned the associationâ€s policy for player compensation after the PGA Tourâ€s format at the Presidents Cup, where players from both the U.S. and International teams receive a $250,000 stipend, and yet no one has ever blamed the International teamâ€s dismal record in those matches on a perceived lack of motivation or misplaced priorities because they are being “paid.â€

The increasingly narrow margins at the Ryder Cup demand that any captain, either for the U.S. or Europe, leverage any advantage, either real or perceived, and Captain Luke is putting on a masterclass at Bethpage. Itâ€s also a straw man argument that conflates gamesmanship with an inflated narrative.

Two things can be true.

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