Branded Chamblee is criticizing the pros who reportedly want to be paid for the Ryder Cup

When news broke this week that the PGA of America was considering paying US Ryder Cup players for the first time in history, European players such as Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry were quick to register their disagreement. Now Brandel Chamblee is jumping into the fray.

On Tuesday, James Corrigan of The Telegraph reported that the PGA is nearing an agreement on a plan to pay members of the American Ryder Cup $400,000 to compete for their country at Bethpage Black next year.

When asked about the report, McIlroy and Lowry, two stars of the European Ryder Cup team, came out against the idea, McIlroy told The Irish Golfer “he would pay for the right to play in the Ryder Cup,” and Lowry similarly told reporters at the DP World Tour Championship that he didn’t care about getting paid because “the Ryder Cup is a privilege.”

On Wednesday night, Chamblee, a former Tour champion and longtime Golf Channel commentator with a strong support for the game’s mainstream elements, took to X to share his disapproval of the Ryder Cup payout idea.

He first admitted that Rory “hits the nail on the head,” before venting on “a few players who have undirected energy and push back” who say they treat the entire game of golf “as a performance.”

Chamblee went on to say that those same players are causing recreational golfers, who he calls “the lifeblood of the game,” to “turn their backs on professional golfers.”

In addition to “commenting greedily” about Michelangelo, Chamblee shared his difficulty in accepting the ways in which the game of golf is being changed by money, saying, “the increase in sales of the game is a tough pill to swallow.”

You can read Chamblee’s comments in full below.

“Once again, Rory hits the nail on the head. A sad commentary on the professional game is that a few misdirected and regressive power players treat every aspect of the game, including the right to play for your country, as a given. These are the main reasons for the existence of this game, which means that those who play it for fun, are increasingly turning their backs on those who play it professionally.”

The increasing sales of this game is a tough pill to swallow. I recently read a book about greed that went like this: Think of Michelangelo, who, wanting to glorify the glory of a common man, carved a statue of David, and wanting to highlight the human capacity for compassionate suffering, he made history. Pieta.

None of these works of art were motivated by money, they were motivated by wanting to lift the human spirit.

In order to play at the highest level, players must rediscover a reason to pursue excellence. And it’s not about money. It is simply striving to make the most of one’s talents and assets just to see how good they can be. And occasionally give back to the game by playing for your country.

And, I dare say, for your right, not for its benefit.”

The controversy over Ryder Cup pay is nothing new. It first came to light at last year’s Ryder Cup in Rome, when a report alleged that American team member Patrick Cantlay refused to wear a Team USA hat at the tournament complaining of unpaid wages.

The report, which Cantlay denied, sparked controversy on the course, with fans booing Cantlay and the American players. The dust finally cleared between the players and caddies on Saturday night which continued to spill out of the course into the parking lot.

The hot button issue has also extended to the President’s Cup. Golfweek reported that US Presidents Cup players in the 2024 event were given $250,000 to do with as they pleased, a change from the past when players could donate their portion of the Presidents Cup proceeds to charity.

The 2025 Ryder Cup begins on Friday, September 26, 2025, at Bethpage Black in New York.