Shane Lowry has made his feelings clear after it emerged Team USA will pay its players at the 2025 Ryder Cup following the controversy in Rome last year when Patrick Cantlay became a pantomime villain
Shane Lowry believes Team Europe does not need money for motivation after their American counterparts learned they will be paid for competing in the Ryder Cup for the first time.
According to The Telegraph, the PGA of America has made arrangements for a $6million (£4.7m) pot to be shared among the 12 players on Keegan Bradley’s team at Bethpage Black in New York in 10 months’ time. Each player is set to receive around $400,000 (£315,000).
The subject of players being paid for playing in the Ryder Cup has been debated for numerous years, particularly on the American side. Tiger Woods led calls 25 years ago for players to have the opportunity to what they want with a piece of the money created by the enormous Ryder Cup cash cow, saying he would donate his portion to charity.
The matter came to a head at last year’s event in Rome, where the second day of play was overshadowed by claims Team USA star Patrick Cantlay refused to wear a hat in protest of not being paid. He denied the move was a protest, although it became clear he was of the view that Ryder Cup players should be paid.
Golf has become increasingly awash with huge sums of money in recent years after huge investment in the wake of LIV Golf’s inception in 2022, with both the breakaway circuit and the PGA Tour throwing eye-watering sums at players. The Ryder Cup, therefore, stood alone as an example of sport in its purest form, with elite players competing only for personal and national pride.
That will change at Bethpage Black with American players getting a healthy boost to their bank balance for a week’s work on arguably golf’s biggest stage. The DP World Tour, which runs the European team, however, has no such plans, and former Open champion Lowry – who has played at the past two Ryder Cups – says the event means much more to him than any amount of money.
“It would probably be silly of me to comment on it, really. Where would I stand on it? I can only speak for myself. 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,” the 37-year-old told the Irish Independent after the opening round of the DP World Tour Championship on Thursday.
“It’s what I’ve worked for for the last ten, 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 love the tournament, and I just want to be involved. I don’t care whether I get paid or not.”
Lowry says the decision to pay American players for their participation will have no bearing on the result when the time comes for Europe to defend its title next September. He says the longstanding arrangement for European players benefits the game across the continent.
“I really don’t think [it will influence the outcome],” he said. “We’re The European Tour. They are The PGA of America. They are not the PGA TOUR. They are The PGA of America. It’s their call, not our call. It’s up to the powers that be what happens there.
“We don’t need any more motivation to go next year and win. Yeah, we all know in Europe that the tour lives off the Ryder Cup, and it helps run the Tour.
