Rory McIlroy reveals what’s been said to Luke Donald in Team Europe meeting about US players being paid to play the Ryder Cup

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The 2025 Ryder Cup looks set to be significant whatever happens on the course at Bethpage, with Team USA players in line to be paid to appear at the event for the very first time.

Reports have suggested that Team USA are set to split $5 million between them for competing. It comes after there was all sorts of drama at Marco Simone in 2023, with Patrick Cantlay being jeered by the fans over the rumours concerning why exactly he was not wearing a cap throughout the week of the Ryder Cup.

Shane Lowry has insisted that the Europeans would not be looking to be paid for competing. And it seems that Rory McIlroy has thrown his support behind the idea of any money which could be set aside for the players being redistributed elsewhere.

Rory McIlroy suggests where Ryder Cup money could be spent

As reported by BBC Sport as he closes in on his sixth Order of Merit title on the DP World Tour, McIlroy has suggested that the European players are largely in favour of reinvesting the funds back into the system they represent.

“We have all had a conversation with Luke about it over the past few weeks because we obviously heard,” he said.

“The common consensus among us is that $5 million would be better off spent elsewhere on the DP World Tour to support other events or even to support The Challenge Tour.”

Why the DP World Tour should welcome further investment

The DP World Tour and the Challenge Tour should certainly welcome the chance to receive a financial boost. Ultimately, the European circuit has suffered significantly more than the PGA Tour since LIV Golf arrived on the scene, with many of their stalwarts making the decision to join LIV.

If they can attract better players, that is obviously going to help elevate events. And with that, that is going to help build new superstars if DP World Tour prospects are competing against more of the world’s biggest players.

It will please plenty of golf fans to hear McIlroy suggest that the European team are unlikely to push for any payment anytime soon. And there will be a number of American fans who feel slightly envious of some of the comments emerging from the European camp over this issue.