Europe, US trade barbs on ‘pay for play’ issue as Ryder Cup practice begins

You guys keep talking about it and trying to make it this negative thing

It's whatever everyone views it as. Xander Shoffley and his U.S. teammates knew they would be getting the questions this week

as practice kicked off for the Ryder Cup. The American team will be paid for the first time in the event's 98-year history

Is it a media-driven story? Is it just a new piece of the rivalry with Europe

And why won't it go away? The PGA of America approached U.S. Captain Keegan Bradley last year with the idea of compensating players

In November, they voted to give the 12 players and Bradley $300,000 to donate to a charity of their choice and a $200,000 stipend

World number one Scotty Scheffler and most of his teammates plan to donate the entire amount to charity

I've never been one to announce what we do. I don't like to give charitable dollars for some sort of recognition

And we have something planned for the money that we'll be receiving. And, you know, I think it's a really cool thing

that the PGA of America has empowered us to do. You know, there's a lot of pride that comes into playing in one of these

And, yes, we're, you know, we're happy to get paid for this

And yes I plan on donating it It something that you know selfishly will make me feel good about what I do Now to the rivalry part Team Europe has won eight of the last 11 Ryder Cup competitions since 2002

including the last match in Rome in 2023. Captain Luke Donald told Sky Sports that he polled his players

and their stance is playing for pride and for country is enough

This isn't a week to get paid. We have such a strong purpose in this team, what we play for

If that sounds like a bit of a shot at the Americans, as if it doesn't mean as much to them

Bradley and his players aren't taking the bait, at least publicly. I'm not concerned about what Europe does or what they think

I'm concerned about what my team's doing. This event is very good at generating lots of noise

and that's not going to help any of us put points on the board

I think we need to put 100 percent of our focus on playing the best golf we can and let the noise be exactly what it is

It's just noise. That noise will get a boost Friday when President Donald Trump visits the event in Bethpage, New York

Scotty Scheffler said it's extremely important for the U.S. team to have the president at the tournament

For Straight Arrow News, I'm Chris Francis