Two prominent members of the European Ryder Cup team are pushing back at the notion of being compensated for participation at the biennial event against the United States. Following a report from the Telegraph that revealed U.S. players could be compensated as much as $400,000 for the 2025 competition set for Sept. 26-28 at Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, New York, Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry shared their stance on the matter and why their pocket books are the furthest thing from their minds when it comes to the event.
“I personally would pay for the privilege to play on the Ryder Cup,” McIlroy told BBC Sport. “The two purest forms of competition in our game right now are the Ryder Cup and the Olympics, and it’s partly because of that, the purity of no money being involved.”
Although not involved in the rumors of wanting to be compensated at the 2023 Ryder Cup in Rome, both McIlroy and Lowry found themselves affected by the whispers. Following a contentious Saturday afternoon four-ball match, McIlroy and Lowry were involved in a spat with Patrick Cantlay’s caddie Joe LaCava.
It was alleged at the time that Cantlay was not wearing his Team USA cap in protest of not being paid. The news trickled through Marco Simone and caused European fans to consistently jeer and heckle Cantlay about the matter. On the 18th green, LaCava waved his hat in celebration following a birdie from Cantlay and encroached on McIlroy’s personal space as he lined up a putt. The back-and-forth eventually bled into the parking lot where Lowry forced McIlroy into his courtesy car to deescalate the situation.
“I don’t really care whether I did [get paid] or not, to be honest. You know, the Ryder Cup is a privilege, and it’s what I work for,” Lowry told The Irish Independent. “It’s what I’ve worked for for the last 10, 15 years, to be able to play Ryder Cups, and I’ve been fortunate to do two of them and have great experiences at them and build my brand playing Ryder Cups. I think, yeah, I love the tournament, and I just want to be involved. I don’t care whether I get paid or not.”
The subject of pay will be voted on by the PGA of America following the hiring of its new chief executive officer. No matter the organization’s eventual decision, the European team will not be involved as the DP World Tour represents the European players when it comes to the Ryder Cup.
“It was a discussion that was happening in Rome,” McIlroy said. “I can see the other side of the argument because the Ryder Cup does create a lot of revenue. It is one of the probably top five biggest sporting events in the world. So I get the argument that the talent should be or could be getting paid. But the Ryder Cup is so much more than that, especially to the Europeans and to this tour.
“We have all had a conversation with Luke [Donald] about it over the past few weeks because we obviously heard,” McIlroy continued. “The common consensus among us is that $5 million would be better off spent elsewhere on the DP World Tour to support other events or even to support The Challenge Tour.”
McIlroy and Lowry’s sentiments were echoed by teammates Tyrrell Hatton and Robert MacIntyre when asked about the report at the DP World Tour Championship. Still 10 months away from the 2025 competition, it appears that a line in the sand has already been drawn between the two teams.
“I think we would all welcome money if it didn’t change the dynamic, but the money really would change the dynamic,” McIlroy said. “That’s why I think everyone is like, let’s not do that.”
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