Scottie Scheffler maintains he is willing to keep on playing in the Ryder Cup for no payment.
But the 28-year-old, who this year alone has taken Olympic gold, Masters victory, the FedExCup title and the world No 1 ranking, has no objection to being paid to take part in the competition, especially as the players could allocate that money to their chosen charities.
Speaking at a press conference ahead of the Hero World Challenge, Scheffler said: “As far as I’m concerned, I think all of us on the American side are more than willing to play in the Ryder Cup for free. We’ve been playing in the Ryder Cup for free for a long time.”
But he added: “If they want to pay us to play in the tournament, that’s great.
“I don’t have a problem with it at all. If someone doesn’t want to take the money for themselves or if you want to give to charity, do whatever.
“But I don’t think there’s any problem with guys getting paid to play in the Ryder Cup. I don’t think it takes away from the competition at all.”
Players have competed in the Ryder Cup for nearly a century without receiving appearance fees.
The biennial event takes place from September 26-28 at Bethpage Black, live on Sky Sportswhere Keegan Bradley will be looking to reclaim the trophy for the United States after they were beaten by Luke Donald’s European side in Rome last autumn.
Talk about whether American players should be paid to participate in the Ryder Cup has been a subject of debate since before the turn of the century, although multiple reports have suggested that could become a reality for the first time.
Scheffler, though, insisted he is not driven by the rewards in the sport, especially when it comes to the Ryder Cup.
“I don’t play golf for money. I’ve been playing golf my whole life for free and the money’s just a bonus. If somebody wants to pay us to come out here and play golf, that’s great, I’m not going to say no to it. I’m going to do the best I can in my community to steward that money well,” he said.
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“Should we be getting paid the money we get paid to play in these tournaments now? We get paid pretty dang well to play in golf tournaments. I want to win just as bad for zero dollars as I do for whatever millions of dollars it is.
“The money’s not my motivation, it’s not something I think about, it’s just a bonus that happens when you’re out here playing tournaments. It’s a very nice thing to have.
“I played golf because I love the game, I love competition. My motivating factor has never been more money.
“I love coming out here and competing and playing golf. I go home and love living my life. I play because I love the competition.”
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