Top coach defends Ryder Cup ticket prices

One of golf’s most prominent coaches has defended the price of tickets for next year’s Ryder Cup in New York.

The PGA of America has been widely criticised for setting an unusually high tariff on the briefs for the Bethpage clash.

The cost of attending a practice day starts around $225, with that figure climbing to $750 for each of the three match days.

For context, that’s up from around £52 for a practice day in Rome last year, where match day tickets settled around £210.

Despite the tickets selling out, many golf fans have responded angrily to being priced out of attending the latest instalment of the biennial contest.

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That anger has been exacerbated by reports that the PGA of America has set aside $4million to divide amongst the 12 players who make the US side for the contest – the first time in the near 100-year history of the match that players will be paid to take part.

Many have speculated that the hike in ticket prices has been done to offset the cost of the players’ compensation.

However, Tiger Woods’ former coach Hank Haney sees no issue.

“I’m not quite understanding all the barking about the $750 price for Ryder Cup tickets,” he wrote on X (formerly Twitter).

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“If they were $50, they’d still all be bought by ticket brokers and sold on the secondary markets for $1,500. Supply and demand sets prices.”

Tickets for the match have already appeared on the secondary market, with fans being charged up to $1,200 for a ticket.

In a statement responding to the furore last week, the PGA of America said: “As expected, demand [for tickets] was enormous, with more than 500,000 registrants entered in the random selection process and orders filled from across the United States and 47 countries around the world. There were more than 2,500 transactions from Europe.

“Once ticket inventory for matchday tickets sold out, fans accessing the PGA’s Ryder Cup ticket sales portal were, in addition to the option to purchase remaining available ticket inventory for practice days, provided the opportunity to visit our partner SeatGeek to explore the secondary market.”

Michael McEwan is the Deputy Editor of bunkered and has been part of the team since 2004. In that time, he has interviewed almost every major figure within the sport, from Jack Nicklaus, to Rory McIlroy, to Donald Trump. The host of the multi award-winning bunkered Podcast and a member of Balfron Golfing Society, Michael is the author of three books and is the 2023 PPA Scotland 'Writer of the Year' and 'Columnist of the Year'. Dislikes white belts, yellow balls and iron headcovers. Likes being drawn out of the media ballot to play Augusta National.

Deputy Editor