US Ryder Cup team make decision on player payment after Rome controversy

Players selected for the US Ryder Cup team next year will be paid to compete for the first time in the 98-year history of the competition.

The 12 members of the team selected for the 2025 edition in New York will receive $500,000 (£400,000) each, with $300,000 (£240,000) being donated to charities of their choice.

The pay package was agreed by the PGA of America, despite the organisation stating that “no players asked to be compensated”.

“The players and captains, past and present, are responsible for the Ryder Cup becoming the most special competition in golf and one of the most in-demand events on the international sports scene,” the PGA of America added in a statement.

It will not be confirmed which players are be part of the US team until some point next year. US captain Keegan Bradley will make six wildcard selections, while six players will qualify automatically via the US Ryder Cup points list. Players currently around the top of that list include Xander Schauffele, Scottie Scheffler, Bryson DeChambeau and Colin Morikawa.

The US fell to defeat in last year’s tournament in Rome, with some controversy among the American team as Patrick Cantlay was reported to have refused to wear the team cap in protest of the fact that the players were not being paid for their participation.

This situation eventually led to an altercation between Rory McIlroy and Cantlay’s caddie, Joe LaCava, which spilled off the course and into the car park.

Earlier this year, McIlroy told the BBC that he “would pay for the privilege to play on the Ryder Cup”.

“The two purest forms of competition in our game right now are the Ryder Cup and the Olympics, and it’s partly because of that, the purity of no money being involved,” added the Northern Irishman.