Brand Chamblee slams pros who reportedly demand Ryder Cup payout

When a report broke this week that The PGA of America is considering paying US Ryder Cup players for the first time in history, European players such as Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry were quick to register their dispute. now Brandel Chamblee is jumping into the fray.

on tuesday, James Corrigan i Telegraph reported that the PGA is close to agreement on a plan to pay members of the American Ryder Cup $400,000 to compete for their spot at Bethpage Black next year.

When asked about the report, McIlroy and Lowry, two stars of the European Ryder Cup team, pushed back against the idea, with McIlroy telling him Irish golfer he “would pay for the privilege of playing the Ryder Cup”, and Lowry similarly told reporters at the DP World Tour Championship that he didn’t care about getting paid because “the Ryder Cup is a privilege”.

On Wednesday night, Chamblee, a former Tour pro and longtime Golf Channel analyst with a penchant for supporting the traditional aspects of the game, took to the X to share his displeasure with the idea of ​​Ryder Cup pay.

He first admitted that Rory “hits the nail on the head”, before dismissing “a few players with misdirected and undoing power” who he claims are treating the whole game of golf as “transactional”.

Chamblee went on to state that these same players are driving recreational players, who he called the “blood of the game,” away from those who play it professionally.

In addition to a “comment on greed” for Michelangelo, Chamblee shared his difficulty accepting the ways in which the game of golf is being transformed by money, saying, “the increasing commoditization of this game is a tough pill to swallow “.

You can read Chamblee’s comments in full below.

“Once again Rory hits the nail on the head. It is a sad commentary on the professional game that some players with misdirected and undone power treat every aspect of this game, including the privilege of playing for one’s country, as transactional. They are the reason that the soul of this game, that is, those who play it recreationally, is increasingly moving away from those who play it professionally.”

The increasing commoditization of this game is a hard pill to swallow. I recently read a comment on greed that went something like this: Think of Michelangelo, who in an effort to simply honor the glory of man, carved the statue of David and wanting to highlight the capacity humans have for compassionate suffering, he carved the Pieta.

None of these masterpieces were motivated by money, they were motivated by the desire to lift the human spirit up.

To play at the highest level, players must rediscover the reason for pursuing the highest level. And it’s not for money. It is simply trying to take full advantage of one’s talents and resources to see just how good they can become. And occasionally get back into the game playing for your country.

And, I dare say, for his privilege and not for his benefit.”

The Ryder Cup pay controversy is not a new one. It first surfaced at last year’s Ryder Cup in Rome, when a report claimed that US team member Patrick Cantlay refused to wear a Team USA hat at the competition in protest of not being paid.

The report, which Cantlay denied, caused intrigue on the course, with fans jeering Cantlay and the American players. Finally it caused an almost player-to-player brawl on Saturday night since continued the course in the parking lot.

The heat issue has also extended to the Presidents Cup. Golf week reported that the US Presidents Cup players in the 2024 event were given a $250,000 salary to do as they wished, a change from the past when players were only able to donate their share of the Cup funds Presidents for charity.

The 2025 Ryder Cup begins on Friday, September 26, 2025, at Black Bethpage in New York.

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