Sorry, Tiger, your Ryder Cup pay remarks aren’t fooling anyone

Tiger Woods faced the press on Tuesday for the first time since The Open, and if you don’t want to know the score, look away now.  

Latest injury setback? Progressing.

PGA Tour-PIF negotiations? Ongoing.

But it didn’t take long before the conversation moved onto the more pressing issue of Ryder Cup pay, because nothing highlights the sanctity of golf like its only billionaire discussing a bunch of millionaires trying to use the sport’s grandest occasion to sling a few more dollar bills on the pile.

The 48-year-old reminded us that this is nothing new, and that negotiations happened ahead of the Brookline showdown a quarter of a century ago.

“But,” he insisted, “we didn’t want to get paid. We wanted to give more money to charity.”

That’s right, folks. The Class of ‘99 were hell bent on squeezing every penny out of the PGA of America that they could, but none of it was to line their own pockets. It was to help others.

Of course the reason for the negativity surrounding such a touch subject was our fault.

“The media turned it around against us, and said we want to get paid,” Woods added.

If you’re wondering, the correct answer is “A) Because you did.”

So how many zeroes does Woods think the players should get?

“I hope they get $5 million each,” he said, without drawing breath, before adding a quick clarification: “And donate it all to different charities.”

Then he had a question for us: “What’s wrong with that?”

Nothing, obviously, Tiger. But you know that. It’s why you’re deflecting. The US team is in the middle of a patriotic crisis, with many members making it very clear they’d rather play for green than the red, white and blue. You had a chance to reverse the rhetoric and you chose not to.

Now, before you all start sliding into my DMs, I am very aware that many golfers – the GOAT included – have their own foundations and give back so much to a sport that has provided them with more money than they could ever possibly spend. And sure, if each Ryder Cup saw $120 million dished out to 24 charities, then that would be wonderful.

But if you believe they’re kicking up a fuss about Ryder Cup pay in the name of good causes, then please drop me a line.

I’ve got a lovely bridge for sale.

• LIV Golf hopeful could face heartache in dream to join league

• Patrick Reed makes Ryder Cup appeal to US captain Keegan Bradley

More, you say?

If you are craving more from me (and Michael and Bryce) on this matter, then we went to town on it on a recent episode of The bunkered Podcast.

Transfer buzz

As a famous office manager once said: “I bloody love football, don’t I?”

One of the reasons I wanted to get into journalism was because, as a youngster, I’d spend many mornings perusing the newspapers or firing up the dial-up in a desperate bid to deliver transfer news to my pals later that day.

There was no social media. There were no 24-hour rolling TV channels with hours and hours of coverage to fill with inane discussion, speculation and, worst of all, banter. It was just the fans, their football clubs, and the reporters in-between who would deliver us our precious news.

I honestly could not think of anything better than being the person who reveals to thousands of football fans that a star player is signing for their beloved club.

Those were halcyon days. That golden era between the advent of the internet and the introduction of social media to our lives. Any of you reading this now who experienced that period in our lives, just shut your eyes for a moment and remember how good it was.

OK come back now I’ve more to say.

Where was I?

Right, yes. Football. And golf, I suppose.

With all this in mind, I must say all this chat about who is – and isn’t – joining LIV is tremendous fun.

The fact that LIV has given up on its quest for world ranking points has made it a thousand times more so. That promotions event they started when they were trying to appease the OWGR bods? Only one person will join LIV from that now. And it’ll almost certainly not be a thing by this time next year.

We can argue about whether or not LIV’s team element works all day – but please, let’s not – but allowing them carte blanche to do what they want in the transfer market is a stroke of genius.

It’s almost certainly all we’re going to be talking about for the next couple of months.

This week is barely 48 hours old and we’ve already had Thomas Pieters ditching the RangeGoats to join 4Aces to free up a spot that apparently will be taken by Tony Finau, whose withdrawal from the Hero World Challenge led to conclusions that he is joining Bubba’s boys, which somehow led to Mrs Finau putting out a clip on TikTok in a bid to quash the rumours.

Meanwhile, Sports Illustrated has been told there isn’t an Australian player that “doesn’t want to be on the Rippers”, who in turn are apparently trying really, really, really hard to re-sign Matt Jones and definitely aren’t going after Min Woo Lee, or Elvis Smylie, or Adam Scott. (Remember him?)

And the Mirror understands “a player from the PGA Tour membership has made an official approach to LIV Golf”. I mean, it could be literally anyone. Let’s rule out Rory McIlroy, Tiger Woods and Scottie Scheffler, for a start. And anyone else involved in TGL, I suppose. So that narrows it down to around 100 players.

You start at the top and I’ll start at the bottom.

Fantastic entertainment, I’m sure you’ll all agree.

With all that carry-on at the top of this section, I bet you thought I was going to have some juicy gossip for you. Sorry, social media’s ruined the fun. Go over there and see what they’re saying.

A genuine question

Outside of the aforementioned trio, is there a player who, if they jumped ship for LIV Golf, would actually be a surprise? Or would you care?

The answer is actually quite depressing, isn’t it?

A tiresome question

It’s doing the rounds again, I see.

“Which is harder: a 147, a 9-darter, or a hole-in-one?”

First of all, it’s 147 then 9-darter then hole-in-one and there is absolutely no debate about it.

And b) a hole-in-one isn’t the equivalent achievement here. The other two are “perfect games”. It should be 147, 9-darter and a round of 59.

That’s a much better discussion.

FWIW I’d go 59, 147, 9-darter.

And finally…

Here are some bits from the past few days I really enjoyed.

Whether you like the World Handicap System or not, it’s here to stay. This, from John Turnbull, on the coach who wants the whole thing overhauled is ace.

Back in the world of LIV Golf, it looks like Greg Norman will be replaced. And this from Michael McEwan on the Shark’s involvement in the breakaway league is well worth a few minutes of your time.

Speaking of which, Ben Parsons is in Saudi Arabia this week as the LIV and Asian Tour stars come together for the International Series finale. You can follow his progress here.

Braving the cold this week? Play well!

Alex Perry is the Associate Editor of bunkered. A journalist for more than 20 years, he has been a golf industry stalwart for the majority of his career and, in a five-year spell at ESPN, covered every sporting event you can think of. He completed his own Grand Slam at the 2023 Masters, having fallen in love with the sport at his hometown club of Okehampton and on the links of nearby Bude & North Cornwall.

Associate Editor