Luke Donald raised the temperature at the Ryder Cup opening ceremony on Wednesday night with a cheeky comment about golfers being paid to play at the competition.
Donald, who will be the European Ryder Cup captain for the second time in a row, is very good at what he does.
However, some believe he took gamesmanship too far with his comments about money on Wednesday.
And in fairness, Donald was widely praised for his Ryder Cup speech during the opening ceremony at Bethpage Black.
However, many Americans did not like his comments about players getting paid.
Just like many others, Sir Nick Faldo has been critical of the US Ryder Cup players receiving payment this week.
But Donald suggesting it via a thinly-veiled message on the world stage during the opening ceremony was on another level.
Sam Burns responds when asked what he thinks of Luke Donald’s money jibes
The United States Ryder Cup players are being paid to play at Bethpage this week.
Each US Ryder Cup team member will receive a $500,000 payment, but $300,000 of that fee must be given to charity.
Donald took a clear swipe about those fees, when speaking at the opening ceremony.
He said: “[The Ryder Cup] is not about prize money or ranking points. It’s about pride, it’s about representing your flag, your shirt and the legacy you leave behind,” Donald said during Wednesday’s opening ceremony.
“We are fuelled by something money can’t buy – purpose, brotherhood and a responsibility to honour those who came before us, while inspiring those whose time is yet to come.“
And now Burns has responded, with a completely different viewpoint.
Sam Burns offers interesting take on Ryder Cup payment
The American made it very clear how the US players receiving money is actually a very good thing.
He said: “Yeah, to be honest, my personal opinion is I’m extremely grateful that the PGA of America is doing this. I live in a small town in Louisiana, and that amount of money in that community for those charities is going to go a long ways.
“So for me personally, it’s going to have a huge impact on our community. I’m just extremely grateful that we get that opportunity.
“I mean, to be honest, like for us, being able to steward that money in our own communities at home, I think that’s a great thing. And I think the PGA of America giving us the opportunity for us to do that is really special.“
That’s actually a fair point from Burns. However, the $200,000 stipend they are receiving is still a bone of contention.
Why isn’t all of the fee going to charity?
Much will be revealed about whether the payments actually mean anything or not come Sunday evening.
Who wants it more? Donald and his Ryder Cup team or Burns and his band of American brothers? Only time will tell.
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