According to The Telegraph, the PGA of America intends to divide $4,000,000 among the 12 players who will be part of Team USA in Bethpage.
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Ryder Cup, news
That would be $315,000 each, which certainly wouldn't change the lives of the 12 guys on Team Stars and Stripes, but which, on the other hand, would certainly change the history of the Ryder Cup.
For 97 years, the only return that the competition created by Samuel L. Ryder has guaranteed players has been the honor of wearing a jersey and defending the colors of their team.
The American players already receive the sum of $200,000 in a figurative way, since they actually have to simply allocate it to a charity of their choice, and the PGA of America takes care of the delivery.
This additional sum would instead end up directly in their bank accounts, without any obligation to report.
Has the time really come to violate what I personally consider a sacred tradition?
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We experienced the warning signs of this development at Marco Simone with the (alleged) controversy led by Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele, who did not wear the Team USA cap as a form of protest against the lack of compensation for the players.
As we know, both of them firmly denied this version of events.
The fact is that now, just over a year after the defeat suffered in Rome, the reward topic is back on the table at Team USA.
The proposal is on the table of the Board of the PGA of America, awaiting ratification which will arrive, with a certain probability, after the appointment of Seth Waugh's successor.
Who knows what Samuel Ryder is thinking.
The competition, which takes its name from the trophy donated by the Englishman Samuel Ryder (18581936) to the American federation in 1924, is co-managed by the European Tour and the PGA of America.
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From 1927 to 1971 the tournament was played between the United States and Great Britain, with a clear American predominance (15-3) and only one draw. In 1973 Ireland was incorporated into Great Britain and in 1979 the rest of continental Europe. Following the acceptance of the European team as an opponent of the United States, the tournament was much more balanced: from 1979 to 2018, in fact, there were eleven successes for Europe, eight for the United States and only one draw.
The Ryder Cup is hosted alternately on the two continents in odd-numbered years. For Europe, British golf courses have historically always been chosen, with the exception of the editions of: 1997, played at Valderrama Golf Club (Spain) in honor of the former Spanish golfer Severiano Ballesteros, 2018 played at Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (France) and, lastly, in 2023, which was held at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club (Italy). Due to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, the planned edition of the Ryder Cup was played the following year, consequently moving the competition to even years, until the 2018 edition. The next tournament, scheduled for 2020, was postponed to 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, thus bringing the Ryder Cup back to odd years.
