Scottie Scheffler Among U.S. Ryder Cup Stars Donating Event Earnings to Charity

This year marks the first time that United States Ryder Cup team members are being compensated in the history of the event, but many of them have other plans for their earnings.

Per ESPN's Paolo Uggetti, World No. 1 Scottie Scheffler revealed that he and several of his teammates are planning to donate their Ryder Cup stipend to charity.

"I've never been one to announce what we do. I don't like to give charitable dollars for some kind of recognition," Scheffler said Tuesday. "We have something planned for the money that we'll be receiving. I think it's a really cool thing that the PGA of America has empowered us to do."

U.S. captain Keegan Bradley revealed that he was in discussions with the PGA of America regarding the best approach for compensating players since last year. In November, the organization voted to provide the 12 players and Bradley with $300,000 to donate to a charity of their choice and a $200,000 stipend to spend as they wished.

"I don't really get that, but I think the goal here was that the charity dollars hadn't been raised in 25, 26 years," Bradley said when pressed about questions over player compensation.

"These players are going to do the right thing and do a lot of really good with this money."

The decision to pay U.S. players generated some criticism, particularly after Europe captain Luke Donald declared that European players rejected the possibility of being paid for participating in the Ryder Cup.

"Every one of them was like, 'This isn't a week to get paid,'" Donald told Sky Sports on Monday, per Uggetti. "We have such a strong purpose in this team and what we play for."

U.S. team member and two-time major champion Xander Schauffele, who also plans to donate his stipend, fired back that the criticisms have been overblown.

"You guys keep talking about it and trying to make it this negative thing. It's whatever everyone views it as," Schauffele said Tuesday. "There's a lot of pride that comes into playing in one of these, and yes, we're happy to get paid for this, and yes, I plan on donating it. It's something that selfishly will make me feel good about what I do."

The 2025 Ryder Cup will commence on Friday at Bethpage Black in Long Island, New York.