Tiger Woods won’t captain the 2025 U.S. Ryder Cup team at Bethpage Black, but he’s giving the players his full support. Once at the forefront of the conversation about Ryder Cup player compensation, Woods gave his thoughts on the matter ahead of the 2024 Hero World Challenge, the event he hosts each year in the Bahamas.
“I have to say, going back to my playing days, we had the same conversation (about paid players) in 1999. And it was: we didn’t want to get paid, we wanted to give more money to charity. And the media turned on us and said we wanted to get paid,” Woods recalls.
“No, the Ryder Cup itself brings in so much money, why can’t we allocate it to various charities? And what’s wrong with each player, 12 players get a million dollars and the ability to distribute it among the amazing charities that they’re involved in in the sense that they can help? It’s their hometown, where they’re from, all the different junior golf associations or efforts. in which members are involved.
“It’s never really been about getting paid; it’s about how do we allocate funds to help our sport or help things that we believe in at home – because it’s so hard to get into this team; there are only 12 guys what’s wrong with being able to allocate more funds… I hope they get $5 million each and give it all to charity, different works. charitable. I think that. That’s great. What’s wrong with that?
Reports surfaced last month that the PGA of America was considering paying American Ryder Cup players $400,000 for their services at Bethpage Black next fall. This would represent a notable change from the current practice of players receiving $200,000 on their behalf, which is then donated to charities and junior golf organizations.
European Ryder Cup team members such as Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry have pushed back on the notion of compensation for the biennial event. Believing that money is the furthest thing from their minds when wearing the blue and gold, both men insisted they would pay for the privilege of playing in the Ryder Cup, not the opposite.
“That’s fine. It’s their right to say that,” Woods said. “I just think the event is so big that I think we can give that much money to different charities, and I’ve been saying that since 1999 when we had the Brookline negotiations. If Europeans want to pay to participate The Ryder Cup is their decision to do that. It’s their team. I know, when it’s on European soil, they subsidize most of their tour, so it’s a big event for them. And the European tour. if they want to pay to play in this, so be it.
Talks about money spilled over onto the court and played a role in a contentious back-and-forth between players at the 2023 Ryder Cup. McIlroy, Lowry and Joe LaCava, Patrick Cantlay’s caddy, exchanged words after a heated four-ball match Saturday afternoon – an argument that spilled into the parking lot. The two teams have been separated, but they will likely all meet again when the United States hosts the Europeans at Bethpage Black September 26-28, 2025.
