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Scottie Scheffler, U.S. stars donating Ryder Cup pay to charity

FARMINGDALE, N.Y. — As United States Ryder Cup members are set to be compensated for the first time in the event’s history, world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and several of his teammates said they are planning to donate their entire stipends to charity.

“I’ve never been one to announce what we do. I don’t like to give charitable dollars for some kind of recognition,” Scheffler said Tuesday. “We have something planned for the money that we’ll be receiving. I think it’s a really cool thing that the PGA of America has empowered us to do.”

U.S. captain Keegan Bradley said Monday that the PGA of America approached him last year with the idea of compensating players and asked him to help come up with the best approach. In November, the PGA of America voted to give the 12 players and Bradley $300,000 to donate to a charity of their choice and a $200,000 stipend to spend as they wished.

While Bradley said he didn’t understand the criticism of players being paid, Europe captain Luke Donald has said multiple times that European players rejected the idea of being paid for participating in the event.

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“Every one of them was like, ‘This isn’t a week to get paid,'” Donald said Monday in an interview with Sky Sports. “We have such a strong purpose in this team and what we play for.”

Two-time major winner Xander Schauffele said he also plans to donate his stipend to charity and downplayed the chatter surrounding the money.

“You guys keep talking about it and trying to make it this negative thing. It’s whatever everyone views it as,” Schauffele said Tuesday. “There’s a lot of pride that comes into playing in one of these, and yes, we’re happy to get paid for this, and yes, I plan on donating it. It’s something that selfishly will make me feel good about what I do.”

In December, Schauffele told The Associated Press that, despite the new structure, the plan was for players not to get a single dime.

“I just see it as a whole lot of money going to charity, and we’re going to take a lot of crap,” Schauffele told the AP.

Compensation for the Ryder Cup has been a topic of much debate, going back to the 2023 event in Rome. Patrick Cantlay was asked Tuesday about his role in getting players paid by the PGA of America, but he was adamant that he was not involved.

“I wasn’t a part of that decision-making process. I don’t think any of the team members were,” Cantlay said. “I can only speak for what my plans are.”

Cantlay said he is also planning to donate all his stipend to a specific set of charities that are meaningful to him.

On the topic of the 2023 report that he did not wear a hat in Rome as protest for not being compensated, Cantlay, wearing a USA hat, smiled and said that, as he has said “a million times,” the hat didn’t fit in 2023 and this year he has received one that does fit.

“This event is very good at generating lots of noise and that’s not going to help us put points on the board,” Cantlay said. “I think we need to put 100% of our focus on playing the best golf we can and let the noise be exactly what it is, just noise.”