'We're There Solely For All The Right Reasons' - US Ryder Cup Pay Decision Will Be 'Hammered Home' By Team Europe At Bethpage

Two-time Ryder Cup winner, David Howell believes Team USA's decision to start paying its players will be used as a motivational tool by their European counterparts at next month's contest in New York.

The decision was confirmed by the PGA of America in December 2024, with an agreement in place from the 2025 Ryder Cup onwards that each of the 12 men on the roster - plus the captain - would receive $500,000.

However, $300,000 of that sum would go to charity, leaving the fate of the remaining $200,000 up to the individual player's discretion.

When the controversial call was announced last year, the PGA of America insisted that "no players asked to be compensated" but it was time for the set-up to change given what the event had become since its inception in 1927.

While that may largely be the American view, very few of those associated with the blue half of the Ryder Cup appear to concur.

Backing up Rory McIlroy's claims that the Northern Irishman would "pay to play in the Ryder Cup," Howell strongly believes everyone involved in Team Europe shares a similar feeling and that emotion will be used to help the away team try and secure an upset at Bethpage Black.

Howell said: "What I know is, there's not a single European player who feels the same way. From the older players to [this team], I have never heard a single player want payment for playing in it.

"From our side, it's the biggest honor that you can earn from a European golf perspective. And I think that will definitely be hammered home by Luke Donald and his management team that we're there solely for all the right reasons, just to try and gain the glory, the notoriety, to be part of something historic and add to that winning tally, just as the players have done before and leave your own legacy on the Ryder Cup. That's more than enough.

"There's so much money washing around in golf. The players are wealthier than they've ever been when they become Ryder Cup players and it's safe to say our side do not see it the same."

The conversation regarding Ryder Cup pay has long rumbled under the surface, but it reached a head in 2023 when Patrick Cantlay was allegedly refusing to wear a Team USA cap in protest over the lack of financial reward.

Cantlay has continually denied that the initial report had any truth to it and simply argued that he could not find a hat which fit at the time.

Nevertheless, Cantlay could be among the first group of 12 US players to land the $500,000 reward should he receive a captain's pick from Keegan Bradley in the coming days.

Howell, who is the chairman of the DP World Tour's tournament committee, stated he felt it was "disappointing" that the pay situation has reached this point.

Asked whether players on both sides should be paid for appearing in the Ryder Cup, the 2004 and 2006 Ryder Cup winner said: "No, we have very different setups. Our ownership structure of the Ryder Cup and all the European tours and the PGA of America.

"The PGA Tour does benefit, as I understand it, from the Ryder Cup monies. So their players do, in a roundabout way, benefit from the Ryder Cup. All their players do, much like all the players of the DP World Tour, including the 12 that play and the 180 that don't, benefit from monies generated by the Ryder Cup.

"That is the ownership structure that we have. They have a different setup over there with the PGA of America owning the American share of the Ryder Cup.

"I'd prefer them to maybe find a better ownership structure and negotiate as a tour with the PGA of America rather than almost sort of force [the players'] hands as individuals for that personal payment.

"I think it's unbelievable. Sad's not the right word. Yeah, it's disappointing that it's come down to feeling like they should need to get paid."