Rory McIlroy insists he would pay to play in the Ryder Cup but warns that paying team USA $400,000 per player could change the dynamic of the biennial contest and take away its purity.
McIlroy believes that the Ryder Cup and the Olympics are the purest forms of professional golf because players are not paid to compete and while he understands why team USA might want a cut of Ryder Cup profits, the Europeans feel the $5m available is more important to the DP World Tour than their own pockets.
“I personally would pay for the privilege to play in the Ryder Cup,” said McIlroy who previously labelled the Ryder Cup an exhibition in 2009. “I have come a long way in this especially with the Olympics but the two purist forms of competition in our game right now are the Ryder Cup and Olympics partly because of the purity of no money being involved.
“It was a discussion that was happening in Rome. I can see the other side of the argument because the Ryder Cup does create a lot of revenue it’s one of the top five biggest sporting events in the world so I get the argument that the talent could be getting paid.
“The Ryder Cup is so much more than that especially to the Europeans and this tour. We’ve all had a conversation about it with Luke (Donald) because we obviously heard and the common consensus is that the five million paid to the team would be better spent on the DP World Tour to support other events and even to support the Challenge Tour!”
The European consensus is that they don’t want anything to change and McIlroy fears that if Team USA players are paid it would change the dynamic of how people view the Ryder Cup but insists that it is “totally fine” if Europe do not get paid and it would not diminish their motivation to win.
McIlroy also questioned the need to seek compensation for one event that comes along every 104 weeks.
“For us, it would give it a different feel, what we have done a very good job of is being a very cohesive group over the last decade and we wouldn’t want anything to change that,” McIlroy added.
“I don’t think any of the 24 players on either team needs the $400,000. Every two years we play there’s 104 weeks and for 103 you can play golf and can get paid so that’s reasonable enough. It won’t change anything on our side. It could call into question there has been conversations on how high the ticket prices are and they’re sold out which is great for the event.
“Every 103 weeks of 104 we get a percentage of that revenue. Going back to the purity aspect it would make the competition seem a little less pure but it wouldn’t change anything from a European perspective. We would all welcome the money if it didn’t change the dynamic of what we had but I think it would change the dynamic of what we had so let’s just not do that.
“If the PGA of America are looking for more money out of the Ryder Cup or the players are starting to be paid it ultimately comes from the people paying to watch the event so it’s a double edged sword. The European consensus is we don’t want anything to change what we have over here so we probably won’t be getting paid for Bethpage which is totally fine.”
Money makes the world go around and it definitely has an overly influential role in sport across the globe and golf is no exception.
Money has been central to most golfing conversations over the last two years with players leaving the PGA Tour and DP World Tour for the mega millions of LIV Golf and McIlroy admits that it has put golf into a poor light but that players can’t be criticised for taking advantage of the lucrative sums on offer.
Team USA players may feel entitled to some of the large Ryder Cup revenue generated but McIlroy wouldn’t want to risk the contest losing some of its authenticity and purity and feels they might be over-milking the cash cow.
“People change jobs to get paid more in a different company or rival company, that’s a way of life. Footballers change football teams because they get signed for a higher salary it happens in all walks of life and all sports.
“The mentality around golf has always been here’s the prize fund and whatever you make you make on the course. The world has changed, people are now being paid contracts. I’ve had sponsorship deals since I was on tour so it’s not new it’s just a very big talking point on golf where as it wasn’t before.
“It makes us look very unrelatable to the average person on the street because of how much money is being pumped into the game. But at the same time that’s not our fault in a way. There’s people willing to pay what they are willing to pay and we are fortunate to be in the position, we’ve been in the right place at the right time.
“There’s two sides to the coin. I’m not criticising at all because if the Ryder Cup generates 100-200 million dollars in revenue you would think the talent should have a piece of that.
“That’s not the way it has been and as Europeans we don’t want to change because of how good it has been the last few years but it’s more than reasonable that if you put an event on and it creates so much revenue that some of it should flow back to the talent but it hasn’t been that way in the Ryder Cup and it’s a massive change compared to what it has been.”