By Staff reporter

Copyright belfastlive

Golf’s Ryder Cup will be held at Bethpage Black, Long Island New York this week as the stars of America and Europe face off in the sport’s greatest team event. There will be cheers, jeers and probably even tears aplenty as emotions run high with so much pride and honour at stake. There is also quite a lot of money on offer this time – for the US team at least. There has never been prizemoney for those competing in the Ryder Cup but this year, all players on the US Team led by captain Keegan Bradley will be well compensated for their efforts for the first time. Until 1999 at Brookline, no money was handed over to players. At the infamous “Battle of Brookline” match that year. USA big-hitters David Duval, Tiger Woods, Mark O’Meara, and Phil Mickelson all questioned where the reported $23 million net profit from the event went. Speaking at the time, Woods said: “I would like to see us receive whatever the amount is – 200, 300, 400, 500,000 dollars, whatever it is – and I think we should be able to keep the money and do whatever we see fit. “Personally, I would donate all of it to charity. But I think it’s up to the other person’s discretion what they would do with it.” An agreement was reached that meant players weren’t entitled to any of the cash, but they would have a say on the donations. Each player would get $200,000 but half the amount had to be invested back into the game of golf in the USA, with the other half going to the player’s chosen charities. That all changed in Rome at the last Ryder Cup with ‘Capgate’. Reports emerged during that tournament that Patrick Cantlay was leading a revolt in the US team room over a fee for the Ryder Cup ,and refusing to wear a branded cap as a result. He later denied the claims, saying they “did not have a shred of truth”. With tensions high, things spilled over during the matchplay and led to an incident involving Cantlay’s caddie, Joe LaCava, that ended with a furious Rory McIlroy squaring up to the bagman in the car park . Late last year the PGA of America announced it was bumping up payments to each golfer to $500,000. Of that total, $300,000 remains in grant form, with the golfers able to direct that money to a charity or charities. The other $200,000 is compensation to the players to do what they like with. From the 2025 Ryder Cup onwards, the PGA of America will offer each of Team USA a $500,000 package. This will include $300,000 designated for charities of the player’s choice, and a $200,000 stipend which each player can do as they wish. There has never been any sort of payout to European team members and that will remain the case. Players have insisted pride is all they are playing for at the Ryder Cup. Since 1983, the European Tour has maintained a special fund that its Ryder Cup team captains can use to buy gifts for each golfer on the team. That amount or information is not disclosed publicly. Thomas Bjorn, European captain in the 2018 Ryder Cup, used the fund to give each of the 12 golfers on his team a Rolex watch. The Rolex Oyster Perpetual Explorer model given to the team normally sells for around £5,000-£6,000. Rory McIlroy’s official prize money earnings from the 2025 PGA Tour season were over $16.9 million as of late August 2025. He has won the Irish Open since then and his endorsements and business dealings are believed to bring that sum closer to $90 million by the time everything is factored in. Ryder Cup captains, in this case Luke Donald and Bradley, receive travel expenses for promotional events and any responsibilities before the tournament but there is no ‘wage’ or win bonus. As for the huge money generated by the event, that is split between the PGA Tour and the DP World Tour, with the home side taking the majority. Though again, that is significantly more Stateside. When the event is played in the United States, the PGA of America owns the rights to the events and takes the majority of the profits – just under 84%, with just over 16% going to the DP World Tour. When the Ryder Cup is played in Europe, the DP World Tour claims 60% of the profits.