Here’s how much money Ryder Cup players receive

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The Ryder Cup is a lucrative biennial event. But how much money do the players receive?

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Being one of the best golfers in the world is a pretty lucrative gig. The winner’s share at the Masters? $2.07 million. The U.S. Open? Even more, at $2.25 million. The Open Championship, like the Masters, awards $2.07 million to the winner, and the PGA Championship doles out $2.16 million.

So, given those head-spinning sums, it stands to reason that the winners of the Ryder Cup should look forward to a hefty payout for their efforts, right?

Wrong.

The 24 players who get to suit up for Team USA and Team Europe actually aren’t entitled to any official compensation at all, even for the winning team.

As an exhibition event, the Ryder Cup is all about pride. The winning team gets to maintain possession of the coveted Ryder Cup trophy until the next time the event is played, and the winning members will have their names etched in history forever.

Though the Ryder Cup participants don’t receive appearance money, the PGA of America reportedly gives Team USA’s players $200,000 each to donate to charity. Half of that amount goes to youth-golf development programs selected by the PGA, while the other half is up to the player.

Since 1999, $28.6 million has been distributed to over 200 different charitable organizations in this way.

On the European side, players aren’t paid to participate, but they do traditionally receive gifts from the captain. Back in 2018, it was a personalized Rolex from captain Thomas Bjorn. Oh, and the Europeans won that year in pretty dominating fashion, so all things considered, not a bad haul!

Golf.com Editor

As a four-year member of Columbia’s inaugural class of female varsity golfers, Jessica can out-birdie everyone on the masthead. She can out-hustle them in the office, too, where she’s primarily responsible for producing both print and online features, and overseeing major special projects, such as GOLF’s inaugural Style Is­sue, which debuted in February 2018. Her origi­nal interview series, “A Round With,” debuted in November of 2015, and appeared in both in the magazine and in video form on GOLF.com.