Luke Donald can trumpet his side playing for love and glory while the hosts duck questions over their $500,000 each
T
he merchandise tent is always a decent place to start when assessing the commercial vulgarity associated with modern-day Ryder Cups. At Bethpage, they are flogging 24-carat gold coins – 100 were available on Tuesday morning, presumably still are now – with Keegan Bradley’s signature attached. The price? $7,500 (£5,500). There must be an assumption Ryder Cup fans leave their senses at the gates.
Money. The one subject the US Ryder Cup team would rather is not discussed this week and the theme that Europe are more than happy to promote. As soon as it was confirmed the US team members would be paid $500,000 a head to play at Bethpage – $300,000 must be given to charity, the rest is a stipend – half of Luke Donald’s team talk was written. Europe play for their cause, their tour, their big picture. The US? Now quite easily portrayed as obsessed with dollar signs. Twelve players, $2.4m, zero caveats.
Last week, the Guardian contacted the representatives of all dozen US players to ascertain whether the “extra” $200,000 would also be donated to a charitable cause. Only one saw fit to reply, Patrick Cantlay’s representative explaining his client’s desire to assist “educational development for children of military veterans and first responders”. Cantlay spoke directly on the same theme on Tuesday morning. It is curious given the obvious optics of this situation that agents have no apparent desire to publicly manage the subject.
