The 2025 Ryder Cup may have been more highly anticipated than any event in professional golf.
From Keegan Bradley’s captaincy to Europe trying to win away from home for the first time since 2012, there are so many talking points.
Another is that the United States players are to be paid to play at the Ryder Cup, a decision that has made history.
Collin Morikawa recently addressed the real reason why Bradley was so keen to make it happen.
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Collin Morikawa on Keegan Bradley wanting the US Ryder Cup players to be paid
The European team have repeatedly stated that the Ryder Cup is not about money and so the players should not be paid.
However, several US players have explained that the $200,000 compensation is not for personal gain.
Morikawa insisted that Bradley and the PGA of America wanted to give the players an opportunity to use the money for good causes, such as charities.
“Look, I think Keegan and the PGA of America have fought in certain ways just to… whether it’s a thank you or… I think the PGA of America and whoever is making a lot of money from the Ryder Cup… they are making a lot of money,” he said.
“And I think on that end, it’s just to give us an opportunity to either pay our respective teams, because the teams behind us don’t get the recognition that we do, but they deserve a lot of it. But also just to give back to our own communities.
“We have a lot of communities back home that sometimes don’t get the recognition, that don’t get the word-of-mouth, just because we don’t travel to those places that the PGA Tour stops on every week. Just more opportunities, I think, for us to help out people that we care about.”
Collin Morikawa answers whether $200,000 is enough for US Ryder Cup players
Morikawa was also asked whether he thinks $200,000 is a fair amount for the US players to receive this week.
He refused to be drawn into that debate and instead discussed why he feels emotional about the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black.
“Don’t trap me in a corner (laughing). There’s no number. It could be zero. It could be one dollar. There isn’t a right or a wrong amount,” Morikawa added.
“Look, I think at the end of the day, all 12 of us here playing when we tee it up on Friday, and before this all started, we just want to win the Ryder Cup. We want to win it for ourselves. We want to win it for our country.
“When we stood out there two days ago and we got speeches from the Nassau Players Club and we got speeches from the firefighter and his son, look, I’m not an emotional guy, but like there were emotions. And sometimes it just hits home.
“When you hear that type of stuff and you’re able to bring out that emotion, just being able to represent a country, you want to step on that first tee and put points on the board. That’s all I’m going to remember. So hopefully we have a great three days coming this week.”
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