'You deserve to be on this team': Veteran US players get rookies like J.J. Spaun ready for Ryder Cup
It was the wisdom U.S. Ryder Cup rookie J.J. Spaun needed, even after winning a major, climbing to No. 6 in the world and automatically qualifying for the team. “I think hearing that has helped me feel like I fit in more as a core player than a rookie who's just trying to make some sort of impact,” Spaun, 35, said Tuesday at Bethpage Black. A year removed from being in danger of losing his PGA Tour card until rallying to finish at No. 98 in the FedEx Cup, Spaun might be the truest rookie of the U.S. team’s four first-timers.
Read more: 'You deserve to be on this team': Veteran US players get rookies like J.J. Spaun ready for Ryder Cup
New dad Xander Schauffele returns to action at Ryder Cup, jokes he didn't name son after Viktor Hovland
Ryder Cup money for the American players is about good charity and bad optics
The Americans have become an easy target for Europe at this Ryder Cup, and it has nothing to do with how they have been outplayed over the last 30 years. Never mind that no American player has indicated plans to stuff their pockets already full from a PGA Tour schedule that offers $20 million purses at 10 tournaments, the $25 million prize fund at The Players Championship and official money of $40 million at the Tour Championship. Or that the PGA of America has been “paying” Ryder Cup players since 1999 — from the millions of dollars of revenue they generate — by providing $200,000 for them to direct to a charity of their choosing.
Read more: Ryder Cup money for the American players is about good charity and bad optics
2025 Ryder Cup celebrity All-Star match: TV info, schedule, how to watch
