Europe’s captain, Luke Donald, has rattled the cage of Team USA ahead of the Ryder Cup.
A running point of debate during the build-up to the tournament has been whether Team USA should be paid at the Ryder Cup. The PGA of America decided that each player should be given $500,000, with $300,000 of that being dedicated to charity.
A number of players, and captain Keegan Bradley, announced that they will donate their entire sum to charity. Bradley defended the decision to pay players and was involved in the decision-making process himself.
But his opposing captain, Luke Donald, used the controversy to throw jabs at the Americans during his opening ceremony speech. He said, “We’re fuelled by something money can’t buy.”
Those comments weren’t received kindly by the American team, who had plenty to say about Donald privately.
Team USA think Luke Donald’s comments were ‘below the belt’
Bradley’s Team USA thought Donald’s opening ceremony comments “crossed the line”. Behind the scenes, they thought it was out of bounds by the European captain, as revealed by the Golf Channel’s Todd Lewis.
Lewis said, “Talking to members of the United States Ryder Cup team, they were pretty upset about that comment from Donald about the money. They think he crossed the line.
“One team member said it was a hit below the belt, and it has galvanised the U.S. team a little more, those comments from Luke Donald.
“They have a little more fire in their belly, they feel like gasoline was thrown on that fire yesterday by Luke Donald. Immediately more friction between the United States and Europe.”
Donald has stirred the pot all week. He told Sky Sports “this isn’t a week to get paid” during the week’s build-up to the tournament, which forced Bradley and his team to answer questions on the subject all week long.
The home crowd is set to play a huge role in the Ryder Cup, and this could be Donald’s attempt not only to get inside the heads of the Americans, but start to turn their crowd against them where possible.
Brandel Chamblee defends Luke Donald’s comments, ‘the truth hurts’
TV analyst Brandel Chamblee has been a thorn in the side of Team USA all week. Chamblee’s comments on Bryson DeChambeau, calling the LIV Golf star a “captain’s nightmare”, weren’t received well by DeChambeau or his teammates.
The American continued to criticise Bradley’s team, and came out in support of Donald for his speech.
He said, “I’m not surprised the players on the U.S. side are upset by it. With that adage, the truth hurts, and Luke Donald wasn’t saying anything he hasn’t already said in the media centre.
“Maybe he wasn’t directing it at the U.S. players. And maybe he wasn’t directing it to anywhere but his team. But it may have had the effect of letting the audience know.
“We’ve all known, in the golf world, that the players have been pushing to get paid on the U.S. side, and they’re getting it. But outside, I’m not sure people knew that. Maybe he was just letting the fans know exactly who they were cheering for.
“People who needed to be paid to play for the honour of their country. Wanting to be paid to play for the honour of their country.”
It’s a valiant attempt by Donald to turn the crowd, but in reality the New York fans are unlikely to care. Their players have clearly turned up to Bethpage Black with fire in their bellies, looking to snatch the Ryder Cup back from Europe.
This home crowd is frenzied in support of their American team, and $500,000 isn’t about to change that.
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