Five Irish for LIV Promotions; Scheffler OK with Ryder cash
Max Kennedy of Ireland hands his golf club to his caddie on the second green during the second round of the LIV Golf Promotions at the Abu Dhabi Golf Club on Saturday, December 09, 2023 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. (Photo by Montana Pritchard/LIV Golf)
World number one Scottie Scheffler has “no problem” with US players being paid to play in the Ryder Cup.
Scheffler earned over $62 million (€58.7 m) in 2024 making his the highest-earning season in PGA Tour history.
But while Europe’s Rory McIlroy said last month he’d pay to play in the Ryder Cup and Scheffler said he had no problem playing for free, he’s not against his teammates getting paid.
“As far as I'm concerned, I think all of us on the American side are more than willing to play in the Ryder Cup for free,” Scheffler said ahead of the 20-man Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas where last place pays $150,000.
“We've been playing in the Ryder Cup for free for a long time. And if they want to pay us to play in the tournament, that's great.”
He added: “The last few years they've given us some money that we can give to charity, and if someone doesn't want to take the money for themselves or if you want to give to charity, do whatever, but I don't think there's any problem with guys getting paid to play in the Ryder Cup. I don't think it takes away from the competition at all.
“As far as I'm concerned, I don't play golf for money. I've been playing golf my whole life for free and the money's just a bonus. If somebody wants to pay us to come out here and play golf, that's great, I'm not going to say no to it. I'm going to do the best I can in my community to steward that money well.
“If we're getting paid to play -- should we be getting paid the money we get paid to play in
these tournaments now? We get paid pretty dang well to play in golf tournaments. I want to win just as bad for zero dollars as I do for whatever millions of dollars it is. The money's not my motivation, it's not something I think about, it's just a bonus that happens when you're out here playing tournaments. It's a very nice thing to have.
“I think every one of our players would pay to play in the
Ryder Cup if that's what was asked of us. I think it's a little bit silly for a tournament that
makes hundreds of millions of dollars to ask for the players to pay as well, but I think we all
would. I definitely would.”
On the DP World Tour, Tom McKibbin will make his first start of the new season at the $6 million Nedbank Golf Challenge at Gary Player Country Club in Sun City where US Ryder Cup star Max Homa defends his title.
Meanwhile, Sara Byrne and Lauren Walsh begin their quests for LPGA Tour cards at the final stage of the Qualifying School in Alabama.
The top 25 and ties after five rounds will be exempt on the LPGA Tour in 2025 but only players assigned female at birth are eligible to compete on the LPGA Tour, Epson Tour, Ladies European Tour, and in all other elite LPGA competitions.
The LPGA and USGA announced separately yesterday that they had changed their gender policies
In a statement the LPGA said that “the effects of male puberty confer competitive advantages in golf performance compared to players who have not undergone male puberty."
USGA CEO Mike Whan said: We remain committed to providing opportunities for everyone to compete for a national title or team but have made changes to our eligibility criteria that reflects current scientific data and strives to maintain competitive integrity.”
At the $5 million PIF Saudi International, Chinese Taipei’s Chang Wei-lun fired a bogey-free seven-under-par 64 to grab a share of the lead with Thailand’s Sadom Kaewkanjana at Riyadh Golf Club where Graeme McDowell’s three over 74 left him tied for 108th in the 120-man field.
Meanwhile, five Irish players are in the field at next week’s LIV Golf Promotions event in Saudi Arabia.
Members of the 2023 Walker Cup teams and the 2024 Palmer Cup teams are exempt for the event at Riyadh Golf Club, where the winner will earn a lucrative LIV Golf spot and the top 10 and ties a full exemption into the Asian Tour’s International Series next season.
Malone amateur Matt McClean, Galway’s Liam Nolan, Laytown and Bettystown’s Alex Maguire and Kilkenny’s Mark Power will be joined by Palmer Cup player Max Kennedy from Royal Dublin, who won a Challenge Tour card at Q-School last month.
But Ballybofey’s Ryan Griffin, who played the event with Kennedy last year is out of action until April after recently undergoing back surgery for a herniated disc.
