Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth both designated their charity dollars to their namesake foundations this year.
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Though Ryder Cup players don’t receive any official compensation for participating in the biennial event, ever since 1999, when top players Tiger Woods, David Duval, Phil Mickelson and Mark O’Meara caused a kerfuffle when they questioned why they didn’t have more say in the multi-million dollar proceeds generated by the exhibition, American players now receive a specific sum of money that they’re allowed to allocate to charities of their choice.
This year, a total of $2.85 million was given to the the 43rd Ryder Cup Outreach Program, which benefits charities and youth-development programs around the country. Each U.S. player — as well as captain Steve Stricker — receives $200,000 — half of which is earmarked for youth charities like the PGA Jr. League, Drive, Chip & Putt Championship and the KPMG Future Leaders Program, while the other half is left to donate at the player’s discretion.
The five U.S. vice captains are each allotted $50,000, which is distributed in the same way. Since 1999, over $28.6 million has been donated, benefitting over 200 different charities.
While the majority of players opt to donate their personal share of the charity money to their namesake foundations, other’s break the $100K into smaller donations for multiple charities. Check out the breakdown below to see where every dollar of Team USA’s charity money was directed:
2021 Ryder Cup player charity fund designees
Steve Stricker – Steve Stricker American Family Foundation $100,000
Daniel Berger – Mia’s Miracles Foundation $50,000 St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital $50,000
Patrick Cantlay – Patrick Cantlay Foundation $100,000
Bryson DeChambeau – The Bryson DeChambeau Foundation $100,000
Harris English – Harris English Foundation $50,000 St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital $25,000 St. Simons Island Athletic Association $25,000
Tony Finau – Tony Finau Foundation $100,000
Dustin Johnson – The Dustin Johnson Foundation $100,000
Brooks Koepka – Brooks Koepka Charitable Fund $100,000
Collin Morikawa – Make-A-Wish $25,000 American Humane $25,000 Feeding America $25,000 Animal Network $25,000
Xander Schauffele – Xander Schauffele Foundation $100,000
Scottie Scheffler – Behind Every Door Ministries, Inc. $20,000 College Golf Fellowship $20,000 Advocates for Community Transformation $20,000 West Dallas Community School $20,000 The Human Impact $20,000
Jordan Spieth – Jordan Spieth Family Foundation $100,000
Justin Thomas – Justin Thomas Foundation $100,000
2021 Ryder Cup vice captain charity designees
Fred Couples – TGR Foundation $10,000 Eat, Learn, Play Foundation $10,000 An ALS Foundation (TBA) $5,000
Jim Furyk – Jim & Tabitha Furyk Foundation $25,000
Zach Johnson – Zach Johnson Foundation $25,000
Davis Love III – Davis Love III Foundation $25,000
Phil Mickelson – Phil & Amy Mickelson Foundation $25,000
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.