Luke Donald interview: The Ryder Cup should never be just about money

Far from revelling in the unholy PR mess the Americans have created by deciding to pay their Ryder Cup players, Luke Donald is prepared to stand back and see the bigger picture of what the breaking of tradition says about his sport’s apparent obsession with money.

“I do feel the game is going that way and captain stuff aside, that’s just a bit of a shame,” the Europe captain says. “It should never be just about money. We know there’s much better ways to motivate people than that and that’s certainly what we are concentrating on.”

The controversy erupted a few months ago when Telegraph Sport exclusively revealed that the PGA of America – the body that oversees the US arm of the biennial showdown – was preparing to dispense with nearly 100 years of Ryder Cup custom by transferring $500,000 directly into the bank accounts of each of the 12 golfers who will appear under the Stars and Stripes at this year’s match in New York, with $300,000 guaranteed to charity but the other $200,000 designated as “a stipend”.

Since the news was made official, Xander Schauffele, the world No 2, has insisted that, of course, the entirety will go to good causes and that it is unfair that the US players “will take a lot of c— because of this”. However, Donald understands that this is not really the point.

“I saw that Xander said last week that he was going to donate all the money to charity and it’s great if charities are benefitting,” Donald says. “But yeah, I don’t know, it’s strange, the wording, I suppose – 300 [to charity] and then 200 as a stipend. That’s up to the players to decide what they do with that other 200. Again, that’s not really our concern.”

Except when the story broke, Donald did feel there were implications for his men. Never before, on such a big sporting stage, will one team be directly rewarded for their labours whilst their opponents are performing gratis. That is why Donald quickly got in touch with the players he led to victory at Marco Simone in 2023, including Rory McIlroy.

“We heard the rumours and it was only right of me to talk to the guys from Rome and gauge their feelings,” he says. “I certainly wasn’t putting words in their mouth. I said, ‘how would you feel if the US were paid?’ And they told me that, ‘the week’s not really about that – it’s more than that’.”

So Donald informed the DP World Tour they wanted no part of the history-breaking and McIlroy came out and rather provocatively announced that he “would pay for the privilege of playing in the Ryder Cup”. It must have been music to the ears of the returning skipper, but characteristically he is playing it down.

“You know, we all benefit financially if you are in a Ryder Cup,” Donald says. “Your brand elevates because it’s watched by so many people; you can make a career for yourself if you play in a good Ryder Cup. We see it that way. I don’t think anything has really changed.” But will the anomaly not affect the chemistry of the encounter? “Hard to tell,” Donald replies. “We’ll approach that when we get there.”

Donald is nothing if not diplomatic, although be certain that this quiet but rock-hard competitor will use the disparity in the messaging in the team room, both in the run-up and perhaps even during the match itself. A close ally of Donald has opined to Telegraph Sport: “If we can get on top early, then the New York fans may turn on their team and accuse them of being more interested in the money.”

Donald laughs when it is suggested that Europe could even emerge as the good guys. “The job of an away team is always to quiet the crowd and try and get them a little bit on your side,” he says. “It’s going to be not so easy, I don’t think, not with the New Yorkers. But still, New York is a melting pot of cultures and we will have some support. Whistling Straits [in 2021] was tough with Covid. We had practically no one there. This time we’ll have some voices behind us and we’ll listen to those more than the New York crowd.”

Donald is here at the Abu Dhabi Golf Club overseeing The Team Cup, a match pitting Great Britain and Ireland against Continental Europe. It acts essentially as a Ryder Cup dress rehearsal for some of the established and a collection of the wannabes. There will be only a few thousand in attendance, there will be no tribalism and the chummy atmosphere will be the opposite of what awaits at the bearpit of Bethpage Black. But Donald is sure “this is a massively important way for us to kick off the year”.

The former world No 1 is delighted the DP World Tour has funded a second edition after his urgings as captain first time around led to the inaugural staging two years ago. “I felt it was a really notable step for us on the road to victory in Rome,” he says. “The first thing when I came in as captain was to sort of gain the trust of the players and this helped.”

He is also gratified that in Justin Rose, Tommy Fleetwood, Tyrrell Hatton and Nicolai Hojgaard, there is a third of his 2023 team who have put their individual careers on temporary hold to compete here – although the Americans might be interested to discover that each of the winning team will collect £100,000, with the losers receiving £60,000 apiece.

And with others such as McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Viktor Hovland and Bob MacIntyre arriving in the UAE to play in next week’s Desert Classic an hour up the road in Dubai, a squad get-together is planned. The topic on the table will be “Mission Implausible” as Europe plot to win on US soil for the first time in 13 years.

“Look, I wouldn’t have taken the job on again if I wasn’t excited and [didn’t] believe we can do it,” Donald says. “After Rome, I could easily have disappeared into the sunset as a winning captain. But the players wanted me to stay on and I’ve always believed it to be a mistake to shy away from the challenge. And the fact that away teams don’t win the Ryder Cup is one very enticing reason why I’ve resumed this role. I love the fact that it’s not going to be easy, but with time and the right preparation I really do think we can ensure that those scales are a bit more even.”

Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.