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 today.
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.
