Tiger Woods makes his feelings clear on the Ryder Cup pay fiasco: “I hope they get $5m”

Tiger Woods has taken a stance on the ongoing Ryder Cup drama. Prior to the start of the 2024 Hero World Challenge, the 15-time Major Championship winner sided with the PGA of America's decision to award paychecks to the players.

The PGA of America will pay each member of the 12-man roster $400,000. The decision has left several players and fans disappointed in the board, as the Ryder Cup is considered to be one of golf's most prestigious tournaments. The absence of paychecks fuels what's believed to be the purest form of competition.

Tiger Woods, however, backed the decision to award paychecks and said that he hoped for the players to pocket $5 million each to donate to charity.

The 48-year-old said (via Golf Monthly):

"What's wrong with being able to allocate more funds? I hope they get $5m each and donate it all to charity. The event is so big that I think we can give so much money to different charities and I've said that since [19]99 when we had the Brookline negotiations."

The eight-time Ryder Cup star made it clear that Team USA's members should only get paid if the money went towards a good cause. Tiger Woods stated that the PGA of America had brought up the topic of pay during the infamous 1999 edition of the tournament, which was known as the Battle of Brookline.

Many of Team Europe's players have expressed their disagreement with the PGA of America's decision. Their star player Rory McIlroy even went as far as to state that he would pay to be a part of the prestigious tournament.

Woods said (via Golf Monthly):

"We had the same conversation back in '99 and it was we didn't want to get paid, we wanted to give more money to charity, and the media turned it around against us and said we want to get paid. ... If the Europeans want to pay to be in the Ryder Cup, that's their decision to do that, that's their team. I know when it's on European soil that it subsidizes most of their Tour, so it is a big event for the European Tour and if they want to pay to play in it, so be it."

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Tiger Woods gives injury updates during the 2024 Hero World Challenge

Tiger Woods addressed the media at the 2024 Hero World Challenge that is hosted by the 82-time PGA Tour winner himself. He sat down alongside the Chairman of the Hero MotoCorp Dr. Pawan Munjal to speak about his injuries and more.

He began his first press conference in nearly five months by stating that it is not "tournament sharp" enough to compete with other players on the PGA Tour. Woods underwent his sixth spine surgery in September and feels that he isn't physically strong enough to play.

While the ankle surgery he underwent in 2023 alleviated him from pain for a few months, he did not expect the pain to return this year. Despite trying his best with rest and physical therapy, the pain got worse and an MRI confirmed the progression of his injury.

"I wish I hadn't known this, but I know it very well and I know the process, I know how long it's going to take. We'll continue doing all the gym work and continue doing all the protocols and eventually, it will lead to something where I can compete again," Tiger Woods said, as quoted by Golf Monthly.

The 48-year-old last competed at the Open Championships, where he failed to make the cut.