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By Devlina Sarkar
Contributing Sports Writer
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The Ryder Cup payment debate that simmered for years finally boiled over last season with the PGA of America's decision to approve payments for Team USA players.
Now, for the first time in Ryder Cup history, American golfers, alongside captain Keegan Bradley, will receive $500,000 each to compete against Europe at Bethpage Black. But not everyone is celebrating.
Patrick Reed, once dubbed "Captain America" for his fiery Ryder Cup performances, has emerged as a vocal critic of the new policy.
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Speaking after his opening-round 69 at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, Reed made it crystal clear that he believes paying players for the Ryder Cup undermines the spirit of the event.
"I never played in that event and cared about playing it for money," stated the 2018 Masters champion at Wentworth on Thursday. "It was all about playing, representing my country and trying to win the cup. It's just like playing in the Olympics; once every four years and it just means something to go out there and play for your country. There's no dollar amount that I would want to play in a Ryder Cup or play in an Olympics."
Reed didn't stop there. He called the payments "unnecessary," and suggested that if money must be involved, it should be redirected.
"There are certain events that money means absolutely nothing and that's one of them. If you're going to give money to players, have it all go to their charity or something like that. Do something good with it."
Under the new structure, $300,000 of each player's payment must be donated to a charity of their choice, while the remaining $200,000 is considered a stipend.
Reed, who missed out on what would have been his fourth Ryder Cup appearance, also weighed in on the cultural divide between the U.S. and European squads. He believes Europe holds a distinct advantage in team chemistry.
"They're all eating together," Reed stated during the same conversation. "The actual brotherhood and camaraderie out here, you don't really have in the States. Here, you're jumping country to country, not state to state. So travel just comes out that much harder."
"I feel like they play a lot of team golf over here (in Europe), growing up and everything. We don't, even though you're playing high school, college, there's not a lot of team format. It's go out, play individual. You count four, five scores and you move on. That's definitely an edge that they have over here, the camaraderie and the tightness of the group. But I feel like we've recognized that in the US, and we're working on it."
While Europe's captain Luke Donald and his squad remain firm in their stance against payment, Reed's comments reignite a debate that's far from settled.
What do you think about the situation? Let us know in the comments section below!
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