ITo suggest that anyone who plays in the Ryder Cup should be paid is tantamount to golf blasphemy. The theory circulated around the U.S. camp during last year’s loss to Europe in Rome, and there were boos and snickers.
The biennial conflict has long become a joke among the corporate class. It generates tens of millions of dollars in revenue for the European Tour and the PGA of America. but pay Participants? Mere discussion would be considered offensive. It’s about the pride, passion and novelty of team golf at an elite level. Most of these guys will never know what happens to each other in the heat of the moment every week, but the Ryder Cup creates a bond. Or so we are told.
Oddly enough, there seems to be absolutely no problem paying to play exist Ryder Cup. If things go the way the European side hope, that’s what Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton will have to do if they want to tee off at Bethpage next September. “Playing in the Ryder Cup? Guys, please pay £500,000. Numbers are plucked from the sky; the concept certainly isn’t.
Long story short: Rahm and Hatton switched to LIV Golf for the 2024 season, which immediately raised questions about their Ryder Cup credentials. “No problem,” declared Guy Kinnings, the new CEO of European Travel Group. “The reality is that under the current rules, if a player is European, a member of the DP World Tour and follows the rules – if you are not released, there are sanctions and you accept those penalties – there is no reason why that has been Players who are LIV members are not eligible or able to be drafted,” Kinnings said.
The “release” is the permission requested by Rahm, Hatton and other DP World Tour members to compete in LIV events. These were rejected, meaning golfers were fined and suspended every time they played on the Saudi-backed tour. This is an absolute cash cow for European tour groups.
The buzz around the LIV campfire was that Rahm and Hatton weren’t particularly amused by this business of paying Bethpage a ransom, or more accurately, having someone pay the ransom on their behalf. It doesn’t particularly align with the sacred ethics of the Ryder Cup. Strangely, however, neither player – who usually doesn’t lag behind going forward – expressed their disquietude. LIV has money – the organization has handed out millions of dollars in fines – but anyone in Lahm’s or Hatton’s shoes would certainly believe the money could be put to better use. Crucially, the Ryder Cup needs them more and vice versa.
European Travel Group, for its part, finds itself in a difficult position here. It successfully argued at a sports resolution hearing that sanctions against LIV players – who initially included Lee Westwood, Ian Poulter, Henrik Stenson and Sergio Garcia – is legal. The quartet are European Ryder Cup icons who pulled out of the tour in lieu of a lengthy charge sheet. In doing so, they removed their names from the Ryder Cup equation. The PGA Tour will rightly argue that it cannot do a good job of treating Rahm and Hatton differently from the likes of Westwood. In fact, doing so would almost certainly expose it to legal challenge.
Kinnings is a former Ryder Cup director and has the most extensive knowledge of how modern golf interfaces with the business world. He knows full well that a Ryder Cup without Rahm would significantly diminish the quality of the product. Fans who showed up in New York wouldn’t have cared that Ram spent the rest of his time playing to a backdrop of Shakira music. There’s a fine line to navigate here.
Last week, it was announced that Paul McGinley had joined the European Ryder Cup as a strategic advisor until 2025. The “Miracle of Medina” in 2012 is called the “Miracle of Medina” for a reason and was the only victory by a European team on American soil since 2004. He was defeated miserably on every visit across the ocean. Luke Donald must find a cure for motion sickness in Europe. McKinley will be a huge asset.
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Europe can take solace in the fact that the U.S.’s pursuit of Tiger Woods as Bethpage captain reached an awkward position long ago. If Woods is late for the role and continues to be as coy as he was when discussing the possibility, Donald should be rubbing his hands. If Woods comes through, Captain America will be the obvious second choice.
With the U.S. Open getting underway at Pinehurst in the coming days, Rahm and Hatton have other things to think about. Surprisingly, Rahm has not won since the 2023 Masters. Since 2019, Hatton has achieved a top-10 finish in a major.
Still, this has the hallmarks of the elephant in the room at the Ryder Cup. This is a problem hiding in plain sight. Issuing checks worth hundreds of thousands just for wearing European colors should make the event’s managers visibly uneasy. The ball landed firmly in Hatton and Lahm’s court.
