No-strings-attached payments to Ryder Cup participants appear to be in the works for next year’s match at Bethpage Black in New York, according to a published report.
Presidents Cup players and captains were awarded $250,000 payments for their recent participation at Royal Montreal Golf Club in Canada, breaking with a tradition in the biennial international match that directed all money be paid to charity, Golfweek’s Adam Schupak reported.
A statement from the PGA Tour acknowledged that 24 players and nine captains were allowed to keep the money rather than donate it to a charity of their choice.
The payments lead to speculation that the Ryder Cup, which is played in alternating years from the Presidents Cup and run by the PGA of America in the U.S., will adopt a similar compensation plan in an era of dramatically rising prize funds in professional golf. Some players have begun to openly question why they aren’t paid to compete in the prestigious and highly selective matches.
In recent years, Ryder Cup players, like those in the Presidents Cup, had been given stipends to donate to charities of their choice. At the 2023 Ryder Cup in Rome, players were given $200,000 for charity. Next year’s Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black is expected to be far more lucrative. READ MORE
david cannon, getty images
Cam Smith wants LIV to create a links-golf tournament to help its players better prepare for the Open Championship. In an interview with Marco Monteverde for Sydney’s News.com.au, Smith contrasted the LIV event at Spain’s Valderrama one week before the Open at Scotland’s Royal Troon as “polar opposites of golf.” Smith, a 31-year-old Australian, won the 2022 Open at St. Andrews’ Old Course in Scotland. The comments came one week after Spain’s Jon Rahm, another former major winner who jumped to LIV, said in an interview with Golf Digest that he was “pushing” for the rival tour to help prepare its players for the challenge of links golf. READ MORE
Golf’s civil war between the PGA Tour and LIV Golf moved closer to a truce as Jay Monahan and Yasir Al-Rumayyan met in Saudi Arabia before last week’s Aramco Team Series Riyadh event on the Ladies European Tour, according to a report by Ben Parsons in the U.K. digital magazine Bunkered. Monahan, the PGA Tour commissioner, and Al-Rumayyan, who governs Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund that supports upstart LIV Golf, also were paired together in the recent Alfred Dunhill Links Championship in St. Andrews, Scotland. READ MORE
U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau would be the first reigning major champion to compete in India as he and his Crushers teammates from LIV Golf are expected to play in the Asian Tour’s new International Series tournament in India in January, Joy Chakravarty reported for the Hindustan Times. READ MORE
Tom Kim addressed another round of petulant behavior last week after he damaged a clubhouse locker upon losing to Byeong Hun An in a playoff at the Genesis Championship in South Korea.
Kim, 22, a South Korean and three-time winner on the PGA Tour, wrote on Instagram that he “had no intent” to damage the locker at Jack Nicklaus Golf Club in Incheon on October 28 and said he had not been disciplined by the DP World or Korean PGA tours, which co-sanctioned the event.
In August, Kim apologized after damaging a green at TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee, during the PGA Tour’s FedEx Championship. One month later, Kim offered a mea culpa after a verbal spat with some of his American opponents while playing for the losing International squad in the Presidents Cup at Royal Montreal Golf Club in Canada. READ MORE
TAP-INS
Brittany Lincicome plans to retire as a full-time touring pro after next week’s tournament near her hometown in Florida. Lincicome, 39, an eight-time winner on the LPGA who played on six Solheim Cup teams, will end her career at the Annika driven by Gainbridge event in Belleair, Florida, near her St. Petersburg hometown. Lincicome claimed two major titles – the 2009 Kraft Nabisco and the 2015 ANA Inspiration – but hasn’t won in more than 6½ years. READ MORE
American Nelly Korda, the world’s top-ranked female golfer and a six-time winner on the LPGA this year, will be featured in the 2025 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, the magazine announced on its Instagram account. Korda, 26, missed the LPGA’s recent four-tournament Asia Swing because of a minor neck injury but is expected to return for next week’s Annika driven by Gainbridge event in Belleair, Florida. READ MORE
Next year’s International Crown team tournament will be played October 23-26 at New Korea Country Club in Goyang, South Korea, the LPGA announced. The biennial $2 million event will award $500,000 to the winning four-woman team. READ MORE
Twenty-four of the top 50 players in the world on the PGA Tour and LPGA Tour highlight the 16-player mixed-team field for the second annual Grant Thornton Invitational, which will be played December 13-15 at Tiburón Golf Club in Naples, Florida. READ MORE
PGA Tour Champions will hold 28 tournaments with a record $69 million in prize money next year, the tour announced. Among the 2025 highlights, the American Family Insurance Championship will change to a team format and move in Madison, Wisconsin, from University Ridge, the tournament’s home since its 2016 debut, to TPC Wisconsin. READ MORE
The R&A and tourism bureau VisitScotland reached an 11-year agreement on staging 14 tournaments, including the Open Championship, AIG Women’s Open and the Senior Open, in Scotland. The announcement comes as the R&A released a study that showed 258,174 spectators attended the 2024 Open at Royal Troon and generated £303.3 million (about $393.5 million) in total economic benefit for Scotland. READ MORE
Compiled by Steve Harmon