Tiger Woods has spoken! The recent controversy surrounding Team U.S. players getting paid $400K to participate in the 2025 Ryder Cup has met with a lot of criticism. Considered to be the purest form of competition in golf, many from the community had questioned why the PGA Tour of America had made such a decision to destroy the integrity of the tournament.

Woods’s TGL partner, Rory McIlroy’s opinion had received a lot of reaction as he spoke up against the idea of paying the Ryder Cup pros. In an interview for BBC Sport, Rory McIlroy has stated, “I would personally pay for the privilege to play in the Ryder Cup.”

He went on to elaborate on how the Ryder Cup and the Olympics are about the pride of representing your country and not any financial gains. He also mentioned how neither of the top pros playing in the Ryder Cup really needs the $400,000 as they are good enough to earn it over any weekend event throughout the rest of the year.

However, the GOAT Tiger Woods doesn’t hold the same opinion as most. In a recent press conference for the Hero World Challenge, the 82x PGA Tour winner said, “I hope they get $5 million each and donate it all to charity.”

The opening statement may have shocked the fans before Woods went on to explain, “We didn’t want to get paid. We wanted to give more money to charity. And then the media spun it around and said we wanted to get paid.” Lastly, he added, “It’s never really been about getting paid, it’s about allocating funds to help our sport.” The tweet was shared by @Daniel_Rapaport on their X account.

While the two golf legends might have contradicting opinions, neither of them stated that payout should be used for personal gains. Some other influential individuals in the golf community had a similar opinion. Let’s see what they had to say.

Do others agree with Tiger Woods’s statement?

Tiger Woods’s views about the Ryder Cup payout for Team U.S. may meet with a lot of reactions. Previously, a few other golf pros had shared their opinions about the issue. Speaking to Golf News, Patrick Reed had said, “In the past, when I was part of Ryder Cups, none of the players or caddies were ever sitting there, and talking about whether we got paid or not. None of us could really care.” It’s clear that Reed does not believe the pros should be compensated for playing in the Ryder Cup.

@NUCLRGOLF had also shared Shane Lowry’s take on the issue. Lowry had said, “I don’t care whether I get paid or not. The Ryder Cup is a privilege, and it’s what I work for.” There were some other pros who suggested that if there was payment the pros should receive, it shouldn’t be more than the compensation for investments they made during the event and nothing more than that.

What are your opinions about the Ryder Cup payout? Do you agree with Tiger Woods’s views on the subject or are you in favor of what the likes of Rory McIlroy and co. said? Let us know in the comments section.