US Ryder Cup Coaches Claim Euros Receive Favoritism

While there has not been any Bryson DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka drama, things have turned to the coaches of the U.S. team claim unfair treatment by the Ryder Cup and demand what the Euro coaches get.

Golfweek reports the swing instructors and putting coaches working with American team members at Whistling Straits must pay their own way this week, while coaches working with European players have their expenses covered.

Europe also permits coaches to access to the team rooms at both the golf course and the team hotel, which the instructors on the American side claim they are not permitted to do. Golfweek reports this has led to grievance among coaches, who have been demanding better treatment by the PGA of America.

“The American coaches pay our own airfare, our own hotel and our food. There’s a hotel we had to stay in to be in whatever bubble they tried to create and it’s about $350 a night after taxes,” said one teacher who works with a prominent member of the U.S. team, per Golfweek. “There was even one night when the area where we were supposed to eat to stay in the bubble had been rented out, so we did not have a place where we were allowed to eat.”

The costs for instructors for the Ryder Cup week are not insignificant, with three teachers telling Golfweek their outlay would be between $4,000 and $5,000.

The access issue extended to the golf course, too. Only after a number of coaches complained did the PGA of America grant them inside the ropes access on tournament days.

“We were not going to be allowed inside the ropes Friday, Saturday and Sunday, which would again have broken the bubble by putting us in the crowd,” a coach said in disbelief. “They rectified that one.”

The range of issues that is causing anger among coaches created tension between coaches and organizers at the PGA of America, Golfweek reports. At least one player on the U.S. team insists instructors should be treated the same as those on the Euro team, specifically with access and paying their costs.

“They’re making, what, $100 million off this but can’t cover that?” the player asked sarcastically.