The Presidents Cup is one of the biggest events in golf, pitting 12 American men against 12 men from everywhere in the world but the United States and Europe in a biennial match that is the PGA Tour-owned equivalent of the Ryder Cup. It's a big deal.
Many golf fans assume there's big money on line for the players and that they're being paid prize money for participating in the Presidents Cup.
Do Presidents Cup players get paid prize money?
However, there is not big money involved in the Presidents Cup. In fact, no player is paid for participating in the Presidents Cup on either side. There is no prize money to the winning or losing team, or the player that gets the most points or anything like that.
The Presidents Cup is played strictly for prize of country or continent. However, players do make a financial impact for charity. Each competitor designates charities or golf-related projects of his choice to receive a portion of the funds raised through the staging of each Presidents Cup. Since the inaugural Presidents Cup in 1994, $50 million has been raised for charity from event proceeds.
The Ryder Cup has a form of prize money, as players are paid $200,000 for competing in the event, while the PGA of America donates $300,000 to the charity of each player's choice. That began in 2025 after 25 years of conversation.
The LPGA and Ladies European Tour, which jointly own and run the Solheim Cup, do not make similar donations to charity.
The 2026 Presidents Cup is played at Medinah Country Club's No. 3 Course in Medinah, Illinois, near Chicago, in the United States.
