Thursday, December 16, 1999
PGA comes up with charity plan for Ryder
Cup team
By DOUG FERGUSON
AP Golf Writer
Members of the U.S. Ryder Cup team will receive $200,000 from
the PGA of America to donate to charities of their choice and
golf development programs at their colleges, several sources said
Wednesday.
The plan to channel a portion of the PGA's estimated $17 million
in Ryder Cup profit to charities at the players' discretion comes
four months after the revenue issue threatened to divide the U.S.
team.
Jim Awtrey, chief executive officer of the PGA, had pledged
to work with players and come up with a plan by year's end.
“We're pleased we have reached an agreement in concept
with the players, and we will release details after the holidays,”
a PGA spokesman said.
According to sources who spoke on condition of anonymity, the
players and captain Ben Crenshaw will receive $100,000 each to
designate to their charities. They will direct the other $100,000
to their college — or several colleges — for a golf
development program designed by the PGA.
“The PGA feels like $100,000 over two years is enough
to fund a program that they've already developed,” a source
close to one of the players said.
The PGA is waiting for players to identify their charities
before announcing the plan, another source said.
The plan is similar to the Presidents Cup, in which the PGA
Tour gave each member $100,000 for the charity of their choice.
In essence, it is exactly what Tiger Woods, David Duval and
other players suggested when the revenue controversy first erupted
two months before the Ryder Cup.
The United States defeated Europe in September with the greatest
final-day comeback in the 72-year history of the matches.
Golf Digest reported that the PGA would bring in $63 million
in gross revenue from the Ryder Cup. The net profit was estimated
at $23 million, with $6 million going to The Country Club in Brookline,
Mass., as the host course.
Woods, Duval and Mark O'Meara were among those who felt like
they were being exploited because of the massive money-making
machine the Ryder Cup had become. “Pros on parade,”
is how Woods described it.
It came to a head at Medinah, two days before the PGA Championship,
when Awtrey and PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem met with Crenshaw
and the U.S. team.
Awtrey said after the meeting that the dispute over revenue
was no longer an issue.
“We're going to be talking to the players about the charitable
contributions and what we can do that lets everybody feel good
about our support of the game,” Awtrey said at Medinah.
“They would like to be involved and have influence in
some of the things we do, and we're committed to doing that.”
The biggest chunk of the PGA's profit — $12.5 million
— goes to its Ryder Cup Outreach Program which includes several
projects aimed at education and growth of the game.
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