If Scottie Scheffler appears inevitable in 2025 following a strong showing in the Bahamas, so, too, does the issue of pay-for-play among U.S. Ryder Cup team players.
With a chance to squelch such talk and perhaps return the narrative to some other money-related issue, those queried at the Hero World Challenge—including PGA Tour Policy Board member Tiger Woods—instead played a semantics game that is bound to keep the issue at the forefront, with an unsatisfactory ending for all but those who get enriched further.
In the wake of an unconfirmed Telegraph report last month that said $400,000 could be going to those on the U.S. squad at Bethpage in September, the response was sort of, “We’d do it for free, but we should get paid ... and oh and we should definitely donate it to charity.”
In reality, funds have been directed to charity in players’ names for 25 years. So what’s different? It’s getting a bit uncomfortable, knowing that there was considerable controversy at the 2023 Ryder Cup—denied by those participating—over payments being an issue.
This is an issue that has simmered since 1999, when the idea of players getting paid for their participation was first broached, with threats of a possible boycott before then-captain Ben Crenshaw interceded.
What emerged was the charity-giving that still exists today, although that was not the initial talking point.
“My opinion is no one should be compensated to play for our country and the Ryder Cup,” Crenshaw said when reached by Sports Illustrated.
The problem is that nobody who is part of today’s scene is anywhere near that forceful. The PGA of America has not commented.
And Scheffler didn’t exactly clear things up when asked about it prior to his impressive victory at the Hero tournament, where he defended his title.
“All of us on the American side are more than willing to play in the Ryder Cup for free,” Scheffler said. “We’ve been playing in the Ryder Cup for free for a long time. I don’t think there’s any problem with guys getting paid to play in the Ryder Cup. I don’t think it takes away from the competition at all.
“I don’t play golf for money. I’ve been playing golf my whole life for free and the money’s just a bonus. If somebody wants to pay us to come out here and play golf, that’s great, I’m not going to say no to it. I’m going to do the best I can in my community to steward that money well.”
Scheffler’s honesty is appreciated, if not necessarily wise. The issue simply is not a winnable one in this climate that has seen so much money talk over the past two-plus years lead to a fractured game and increasing fan apathy.
The view here for a long time has been that Ryder Cup players should be paid. The event generates millions of dollars and everyone associated with it makes money, the PGA of America and DP World Tours banking considerable sums, their various executives and workers reaping the benefits of player participation that is absolutely paramount to the event’s popularity.
As noted many times, the Ryder Cup is far removed from its early exhibition status. The event is probably bigger than any tournament outside of the Masters, and the participants are held to a high standard, their play both celebrated and vilified. They keep score, the result matters, and nowhere in professional sports is any athlete expected to compete under such circumstances for free.
And yet, the current situation in golf makes this untenable, especially when the American counterparts in Europe are all on board with not being paid. The ugly American narrative becomes too easy, and the subject will be hammered home at every opportunity.
As Rory McIlroy said, nobody involved needs the $400,000. And while that might not be the point, it is nonetheless true. Making a Ryder Cup team comes with intrinsic benefits that undoubtedly lead to some indirect financial benefits, whether it’s increased endorsement opportunities or contractual incentives.
Keegan Bradley, the U.S. captain who famously was so distraught after the 2012 U.S. defeat that he never opened his Ryder Cup bag from the event, was disappointed that word of such payments was leaked, which wasn’t exactly dumping on the idea.
Justin Thomas, who defended Patrick Cantlay and the entire “no hat as a protest” idea from last year in Rome, likened the situation to the name, image and likeness debate in college sports that now sees athletes who for decades competed for free as amateurs now getting paid despite not being professionals.
“It’s a weird, touchy subject and you’re damned if you do, damned if you don’t,” Thomas said. “All of us would play if we weren’t compensated.”
And yet, nobody is saying they shouldn’t be.
Cantlay, when asked, said: “My thoughts on the Ryder Cup are really simple. I’m there to represent my country and there to win points for my teammates and that’s it.”
Asked about what occurred in Rome, Cantlay called it a “media narrative and I’m not going to fall into that.”
The PGA of America has not helped matters by allowing this situation to fester. The organization that runs the event in the U.S. and would be doling out the payments has only declined to comment on the Telegraph report, the belief being that its board of directors needs to vote on the plan and that a new as yet-to-be appointed chief operating officer needs to sign off.
If it were not true, why not deny it? And yet, but saying nothing, the conversation about one of golf’s best events has turned negative a full 10 months out.
Woods said the entire issue which first surfaced months before the 1999 Ryder Cup at Brookline was the media turning it on the players, which is not altogether correct. It wasn’t until Crenshaw intervened that the messaging changed to charitable donations, quieting a situation that had even escalated to levels of boycott talk.
“The agreement that was made from ’99 was for the players to receive money for their foundations that in turn go to charities and that is something we all agreed on,” said Crenshaw, 72, the two-time Masters winner who played on four U.S. Ryder Cup teams and captained the 1999 winners. “My position has never changed, nor will it even though the game has.
“I’m not sure if this is what the current players want. My hope is no and that they will be content with the money going to their charities. After all, I feel it necessary to honor all the Ryder Cup participants who came before us who proudly represented our country and the PGA of America.”
Woods, who played in his second Ryder Cup that year for Crenshaw (the only time he played on a winning U.S. team) is all-in on the charitable aspect. But the messaging all the way around is hardly overwhelming, and until there is some official word from the organizers, the situation is bound to keep coming up.
Meanwhile, the Europeans—who have not won in America since 2012—have the ultimate rallying cry on their side, putting pride over payment. A public relations disaster awaits, if it isn’t here already.
Scheffler's new putting stroke
It has to be a bit scary to those trying to rein in Scottie Scheffler that he might have found something with a “claw” putting grip he employed at the Hero World Challenge.
Scheffler, who shot a final-round 63 to win the tournament for the second straight year and cap a nine-victory worldwide season, said following the first round that he was simply experimenting with the “claw” or “saw” grip on shorter putts.
An elite ball striker, Scheffler’s putting has always been his “weak” spot if there is such a thing for the No. 1 player in the world. In 2023, he won just twice during the main part of the PGA Tour season, his putting holding him back from at least a few more wins.
Going to a mallet-style putter early in 2024 seemed to change those fortunes, as Scheffler improved on the greens, although he was still a relatively modest 77th in strokes-gained putting for the year.
He led or was second, however, in numerous statistical categories.
And now it appears that new putting stroke which will mostly be employed from 15 feet and in—Scheffler said he’d putt conventional on the longer ones—is likely to stay. He will get with his putting coach, Phil Kenyon, and likely work on it some more.
“Going into this week it was something I wanted to test out,” he said. “Like I said, you can always practice and do everything at home, but competition's just a slightly different animal. It was good to come out here and compete and play under pressure, play with the lead, play close to the lead most of the week and I felt really comfortable.
“I would definitely assume that it's going to be there in Maui (for the Sentry in January). Like I said, I'll go home and assess the week, talk to Phil. Overall I felt like the results and the way I felt over the ball, I was really comfortable in competition and I was pretty pleased.”
It’s a small sample size at the 20-player Hero but he was third in strokes-gained putting for the week and first inside 10 feet.
Scheffler won seven PGA Tour events, which is the most since Tiger Woods won seven in 2006. Scheffler added the Olympic gold medal and the Hero for nine worldwide victories, which is the most since Woods won nine in 2006.
Another Masters invite for Niemann?
Joaquin Niemann’s victory at the Saudi International won’t get him in the Masters by itself. But his body of work and attempts to improve his standing in the Official World Ranking are bound to get the attention of Masters officials again, as they did in 2024 when the Chilean golfer was extended a special invitation.
Niemann did that off the back of his 2023 Australian Open victory and a tie for fourth at the Dubai Desert Classic.
This time, he tied for fifth in his defense of the Aussie Open title which followed a tie for seventh at the DP World Tour Championship. That finish got him in the top 30 in the final Race to Dubai standings, which means an invite to the British Open at Royal Portrush.
If there’s one weak spot on the resume it has been Niemann’s inability to take advantage of his major starts over the past two years while playing for LIV Golf, where he won twice in 2024 and finished second in the season-long individual standings to Jon Rahm.
The Masters, so far, has given no weight to such performances on LIV. But he did tie for 22nd at the Masters and his Saudi victory came in the season-ending Asian Tour event, giving him a title in the season-long International Series standings, despite playing in just two events.
The International Series, which is 10 elevated events on the Asian Tour funded by LIV Golf, was put in place in 2022 and has minimum $2 million purses. Last year, former U.S. Amateur champion Andy Ogletree won the money title and thus a spot on LIV Golf.
This year, however, the Asian Tour changed things up and increased the purses at two late-season events, including the Saudi tournament, which offered $5 million overall and $1 million to the winner.
American John Catlin, who won earlier this year on the International Series and competed in all the events, led the money list until being passed two weeks ago by Peter Uihlein, who is contracted to play for LIV Golf next year and didn’t need the exemption.
As it turned out, Catlin fell to fourth behind Niemann, Uihlein and Australian Ben Campbell. Because Niemann already plays for LIV Golf, there will be no promotion from the International Series, which is a clear miss. The league needs to put in place a way for the player “not otherwise exempt” to move up. Or put in place a minimum of events clauses, such as at least four, in order to win the Order of Merit.
So LIV Golf comes off with an even greater appearance of being closed. This week’s Promotions Event, to be played at the same Riyadh golf course in Saudi Arabia where Niemann won, will offer just a single spot in the LIV Golf League for next year after it had offered three for 2024.
For Catlin, 34, who has three DP World Tour victories, there is some consolation. He did win the Asian Tour’s Order of Merit, which uses a points—not money—system. Thus, he is likely to earn spots in the PGA Championship and the British Open in 2025 through the Federation ranking system.
And having played as a reserve several times this year for LIV Golf, there is a good chance that he will get offered a spot on one of the teams.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Ryder Cup Legend Ben Crenshaw Has a Bold Opinion on Whether U.S. Players Should Be Paid.
