The Ryder Cup was first played in 1927 and its roots go back a little earlier, to the start of that decade. As it approaches its centenary it is as big and prestigious as it has ever been. The contract to broadcast coverage of the biennial event is highly lucrative and tickets to watch live sell out almost immediately. And that is despite the fact they are incredibly expensive – the prices for 2025 were set at $750 for a day ticket and $250 even on the practice days!
Although it takes place only every two years, it is a big cash cow for the organisers, with hospitality packages, merchandise sales and sponsorship further boosting the coffers of the parties that administer it. In essence, the Ryder Cup is “owned” by the PGA of America and Ryder Cup Europe, the latter being majority-owned by the PGA European Tour.
These are the parties that rake in the money from the Ryder Cup and, unlike any other tournament in golf, aside from the Olympics, the players do not get paid to take part. Golf is a sport that has come close to being ripped apart by debates over money and what represents fair pay, with the creation of LIV causing a huge fracture in the game.
Photo credit: Département des Yvelines, flickr
No Boycott at Brookline in 1999
The issue of players being paid to take part in the Ryder Cup is not a particularly new one. It dates back to at least 1999 and almost certainly earlier. Back at the end of the last millennium, David Duval and Tiger Woods raised the issue. Then the world number one and two respectively, there was even talk of a boycott, though talks managed to resolve the issue relatively easily.
In 1999 the US held a meeting to discuss what should happen to the £14m in profit it was thought the Ryder Cup generated. It was reported that Duval had spoken of a boycott if players did not receive a share, though he later clarified that all he had wanted was for players to have a say in what charities and areas of the game at large benefited.
Woods, for his part, suggested that players should receive remuneration of between $200,000 and $500,000 but believed that most would be happy to give it to charity. Twenty-five years ago the figures involved were smaller than they are today, with the event turnover believed to be $63m. Players received a “stipend” of $5,000 to take part, with the US PGA taking a cool $17m (then around £14m).
Woods Sings from the Same Hymn Sheet

Woods is no longer the player he was in 1999, a year when he won his second major and earned two other top 10s in the game’s biggest events. By spring 2001 he held all four majors at the same time, the so-called Tiger Slam. But whilst the state of his game is vastly different now, his beliefs about Ryder Cup money are – in principle, if not dollar bills – unchanged.
In early December 2024, Woods referenced the debate of 1999, saying that, “We had the same conversation (back then). We didn’t want to get paid. We wanted to give more money to charity.” He added that he felt “the media turned it round against us and said we wanted to get paid.”
Woods also got to the heart of the matter, which is not so much that the players want to get paid to take part in the Ryder Cup but more that they feel they are being used to make a lot of money and then get no say in where that money goes. He said that the competition “makes so much money” and he hoped that those who make the team “get five million dollars each and donate it all to different charities”.
It is possible to see why players may feel hard done by given they are the key attraction and the big draw. They have in the past essentially played for free and sat back and watched another party rake in the cash. A figure of $5m may seem like a huge sum, especially as it seems there would be no compulsion for players to give it to charity, and back in 1999 the figure Woods suggested was around a 10th of that. But the Ryder Cup organisation makes far more money these days, though nowhere near 10 times as much.
US Players will be Paid
At the moment the figures bandied around by Woods are just numbers, and $5m per player does not seem financially viable, but what is certain is that the 12 US players will be paid next time around. The American PGA agreed a deal for the 12 players to earn an equal split of $4.8m, so they are effectively being paid $400,000 appearance money.
In the scheme of things that is a very small sum, in golf terms if not in the real world. In the 2022/23 US PGA season the top 139 players on the money list all earned more than $1m. A total of 36 players brought in over $5m, and so any player making the US team really does not need the money.
But do They Deserve it?
Whilst playing golf is a wonderful way to earn a living, and a very handsome one for pretty much any player who is a regular on the US Tour, players may feel that they deserve the cash. However, it should be remembered that the money from the Ryder Cup does not go to a private company, to shareholders, or a select group of individuals.
The profit from this hugely popular event goes, at least indirectly, back into the game. It goes to the two main tours involved and without the PGA and European (DP World) Tours the players, at least in the days before LIV, would have no way of earning the incredible sums they do.
What’s more, the Ryder Cup offers players an incredible chance to raise their own profile. Even though they may not get paid, the increased exposure is sure to lead to more lucrative endorsements and sponsorships, with top players having clauses in their agreements that to that effect.
Rory McIlroy said that he would pay to play in the Ryder Cup and that it, and the Olympics, were the “two purest forms of competition in our game right now”. He added that players get 103 weeks out of 104 every two years to be paid to play golf and the lack of money was part of what made the Ryder Cup so special.
We have to say, we’re with Rory on this one. And whilst we can understand the players wanting more say in where the money goes, and greater transparency, there are many bigger problems in the game itself, let alone the world.