Keegan Bradley Defends US Ryder Cup Player Payments

US Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley has defended the decision to pay team members for the first time.

In December last year, it was confirmed that a financial package of $500,000 will be handed to all 12 members of the team, with Bradley also receiving the sum.

Each player had previously been awarded $200,000 to donate to a charity of their choice, but that will increase to $300,000 from the Bethpage Black match.

More controversially, each player will also earn a $200,000 stipend, breaking with a tradition that has been in existence since the first match in 1927.

The issue of payments has been in the public domain since 1999, when then-captain Ben Crenshaw helped to avoid a possible player boycott by introducing the charitable aspect.

The subject reared its head again in 2023, when it was reported that Patrick Cantlay refused to wear a hat in protest at not being paid, a claim he later dismissed as “complete lies” and “totally unfounded.”

With the PGA of America having approved payments for the first time, starting at the Bethpage Black match, Bradley addressed the move at a press conference held alongside counterpart Luke Donald on Monday, where he confirmed his payment would go to charity, including the stipend.

He said: “Well, the PGA of America came to me, they wanted to bring the Ryder Cup into the present day. The charity dollars hadn't changed since 1999 and they asked me to sort of shepherd their way into making it into 2025.

“I think for everyone it's a personal decision. A lot of guys aren't comfortable sharing what they're going to do with their money, but we're going to donate."

Following the decision, two-time Ryder Cup winner David Howell was among those suggesting the Europeans, who are not paid at the Ryder Cup, could use it as a motivational tool, saying the message would be “hammered home” by Donald, but Bradley is unfazed by what the opposition thinks.

“Well, I'm not concerned about what Europe does or what they think. I'm concerned about what my team is doing," he insisted.

Bradley also said the decision mimics aspects of the Presidents Cup, where players are not paid, but allocate an equal portion of the funds raised to charities of their choice.

He added: “I was tasked with a job the PGA of America asked me to do, and this was what we decided. We wanted to bring the Ryder Cup into today's age, and we felt like this was the best way to do it. We copied a lot of what the Presidents Cup does.

“We did the best we could, and I think a lot of good is going to come from this. I think the players are going to do a lot of good with this money, and I think it's great.”

Later, it was put to Bradley that the optics of the arrangement could be questionable, considering the huge sums of money already in the game, but he doesn’t see it that way.

He added: “I don't really get that, but I think the goal here was that the charity dollars hadn't been raised in 25, 26 years, and that's what we started out doing.

“Again, we did a lot of what the Presidents Cup did, and these players are going to do the right thing and do a lot of really good with this money. You can say that, but I think that the players are really good people and are going to do a lot of good things.”