Do Players Get Paid To Play In The Presidents Cup?

The 2024 Presidents Cup will see 12 of the best players the US has to offer compete against a team of 12 international players, with six of the world's top 10 competing at Royal Montreal Golf Club. 

Whether a player has qualified automatically or is appearing following a captain's pick, none would realistically have made their respective line-ups without some excellent form since the 2022 edition.

Along the way, that inevitably means some big money has been made by each of the 24 players. However, unlike the vast majority of their starts, there will be no personal financial incentive at the Presidents Cup as the players neither get paid for their appearances nor claim prize money. Instead, the money raised at the biennial match goes to charity.

Since the first Presidents Cup in 1994, it has raised $56.4m for charity from match proceeds and other contributions, benefiting 475 charities in 18 countries. Part of that was donated after the 2022 match, at Quail Hollow in North Carolina, when it was announced that the overall charitable contribution from the match was $2m, with the majority handed to local Charlotte-based non-profit organizations.

The emphasis on charitable payments is one element that makes the Presidents Cup similar to the Ryder Cup (although there are several other key differences between the two contests).

In the Ryder Cup, players also don't receive prize money, and they aren't officially paid for their appearances either. However, there is still a significant emphasis on its charitable element.

One example came after the 2018 edition of the Ryder Cup, when it was announced that US captain Jim Furyk (who, of course, captains the US team at the 2024 Presidents Cup), the vice captains and 12 team members made a $2.85m commitment to the Ryder Cup Outreach Program, which impacts various charities and youth golf development programs.

The Presidents Cup operates in a similar spirit, with each of the 24 players allocated an equal portion of the funds generated to give to charities of their choice. Therefore, while players don't get paid for appearing in the Presidents Cup, they still have an input into ensuring the money raised goes to causes close to their hearts.