Winter is rolling in over Bethpage Black right now but plans are in motion for the 2025 Ryder Cup. The story of the 2023 event was Patrick Cantlay’s lack of a hat. An erroneous report came out that he was not wearing a hat because the players were not getting paid. He denied the protest attempt. On Monday, the PGA of America announced they would pay Ryder Cup players on Team USA with a big catch for the 2025 event.

“While no players asked to be compensated, the PGA of America Board of Directors has voted to increase the allocation to the members of the U.S. Ryder Cup team from $200,000 to be directed to charities – a figure unchanged since 1999 – to $500,000, with $300,000 of that to be directed to the charity or charities of the players’ choice,” the PGA said in a statement,

This comes as money becomes the center of conversation in the golf world. The Saudi-backed LIV Golf has offered monstrous amounts of guaranteed money to players who defect from the PGA Tour. That forced the Tour to increase purses and add guaranteed money to their pay scale. The Ryder Cup is the next event to make a similar decision.

Before this announcement, the Ryder Cup was one of the few events that did not pay players, Now, half the players will get paid.

What does this announcement mean for the Ryder Cup?

For the top 12 American golfers, $200,000 will not make a big difference. It is a peace offering to get this story to go away, despite what the PGA’s announcement says. There have been reports that players have asked to be paid. Meanwhile, European golfers have mocked Team USA for their desire to be paid.

Shane Lowry told the Irish Independent he would pay for the privilege to play in the Ryder Cup. The Irishman has played in two Cups, a win in Rome and a loss at Whistling Straits in 2021. Rory McIlroy said something similar, signaling an announcement like this won’t be coming out of Europe anytime soon.

The pay-to-play at the Ryder Cup puts extra pressure on the captain. Keegan Bradley will lead the 2025 team and now has $200,000 to think about in addition to a career achievement. While the money won’t make a massive difference for the players, it is still a significant chunk of change.

The Ryder Cup is over ten months away but will hog golf headlines for the entire year. It starts now, with American players getting paid.