Ryder Cup: Questions over Europe and US pay at the event arise in response to Patrick Cantlay’s “hat-gate”
Have you ever questioned why players like Mark O’Meara and David Duval were never selected to lead the US Ryder Cup team?
O’Meara is a two-time major champion, and Duval won the Open in 2001 and held the top spot for an extended period of time. Both are capable leaders who were once members of successful teams.
But neither has peeked inside. It is undoubtedly no accident that they proposed paying golfers to compete in the Ryder Cup in 1999, along with Tiger Woods.
The ‘hat-gate’ controversy, which involved Patrick Cantlay’s alleged reluctance to wear a team cap while representing the US at the Ryder Cup in Italy last month, has brought this contentious topic back to the forefront and is rumbling with renewed vigor.
Cantlay was reportedly protesting the fact that Ryder Cup participants are not paid, said to Jamie Weir of Sky Sports.
The US team members earn $200,000 (£164,000) to give to the charities of their choice as compensation for the 1999 protests, it should be noted. Additionally, the PGA Tour and its pension fund receive 20% of the media rights to the Ryder Cup for the benefit of its players.
However, regardless of which side of the Atlantic you are representing, there is no charge for showing up for your nation or continent.
Cantlay said at Marco Simone that Weir’s accusations, which included a subsequent rift in the US team room, were “the furthest thing from the truth”.
But one of the most knowledgeable writers in American golf has suddenly questioned that position.
When asked on the first tee of the first round of the tournament why he wasn’t wearing a cap, Cantlay allegedly responded, “I’ll wear a hat when I’m paid to be here like he is,” according to Michael Bamberger of the Fire Pit Collective.
Cantlay is reported to have turned to gaze at Julius Mason, a senior media executive with the PGA of America, who was close.
The 31-year-old athlete, who has made over $60 million in career earnings, could scarcely have predicted how the following few days would unfold as Europe reclaimed the championship by defeating his US team 161–1–112.
Cantlay is not the first golfer to play without a hat during a Ryder Cup, after all. Numerous stars on both sides have historically benefited from the absence of the requirement to wear the usual sponsors’ headgear to reduce facial tan lines.
Therefore, was this a protest or not? Is it not preferable to be explicit if you are making a statement? Or is it better to play things safe, especially with a topic this contentious?
There are a lot of fans who love the “purity” of the Ryder Cup, so the idea of these golfers wanting to get compensated is anathema to them.
The Ryder Cup, according to Luke Donald, captain of Europe, “represents pure sport. The fans adore it because it’s the most straightforward competition we have. It is entirely a sport. That is what makes it unique.
This strikes me as being especially pertinent at a time when money-related issues are so prevalent in golf. Now is a time when $20 million events are commonplace and Ryder Cup standard players are extremely wealthy.
Billions of dollars’ worth of talks are entwined with the game’s future. By the end of the year, the PGA Tour and DP World Tour hope to convert a framework agreement with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund into a lucrative, future-proofing contract.
Each leg on the splinter LIV circuit continues to award $4 million to the 48-man event winners. Many people have referred to the players who signed up and collected eye-watering joining fees as greedy mercenaries.
However, they would counter that because they are self-employed, they are merely trying to live as comfortably as possible, just like the rest of us. Moreover, despite Saudi Arabia’s harshly criticized record on human rights, the major tours have no objections to the source of the funding.
All of stuff is irrelevant. In the end, only money matters. Additionally, it would take a very, very long time to count them all at the top of men’s professional golf. It is overflowing with it and appears to be the only thing that matters to everybody involved in the sport.
So yes, it is energizing to watch these famous athletes compete just for sporting success for one week every couple of years. The Ryder Cup is elevated to one of the greatest sporting events as a result.
The DP World Tour in Europe and the PGA of America, the organization that represents American club professionals, are then supported by the Ryder Cup, which in turn develops into a sizable cash cow.
Because my BBC producer wanted to purchase a souvenir from the sizable shop that welcomed every spectator upon arrival, we arrived early on Sunday morning at Marco Simone. We gave up on the plan because the line was so lengthy.
Hundreds of millions of dollars came from broadcast rights, and ticket holders snatched up grandstand seats that had cost more than a pretty penny as thousands of credit cards tapped on terminals in the store.
We were among the thousands of people who had been paid to attend, performing duties that support our livelihoods.
The DP World Tour or PGA of America do not provide pay slips to the players, many of whom may receive sponsorship bonuses for making the cut to compete in the event.
Does it sound correct? We don’t seem to mind that the teams competing in the current world championships of rugby and cricket are all paid. It is a competitive sport.
What makes the Ryder Cup special? It seems like a valid justification.
But if a multi-millionaire player asks this question—either subtly, as Cantlay appears to have done, or blatantly, as O’Meara and Duval did all those years ago—they invite an unending barrage of criticism.
No one will ever forget the hat-waving applause Cantlay received in Italy, but despite how clearly people recall O’Meara and Duval’s positions, neither has come close to leading their nation in these twice-yearly transatlantic battles.
The Masters winner and icon of the European continent, Jon Rahm, remarked in Italy, “I don’t have to get paid to come here and perform in front of people, to be honest.”
Certain things are revered.
The Ryder Cup is one of those things to the supporters and the huge, vast majority of golfers who were fortunate enough to participate in it.
Why? They would say that it is different, though. Wonderfully distinctive.