HONG KONG: Major winner Justin Rose on Tuesday echoed Rory McIlroy’s stance on European stars not being paid to play in the Ryder Cup, saying “we play for the badge”. Northern Ireland’s McIlroy said last week he would “pay to play” for Europe in the Ryder Cup in the wake of reports that American golfers will each receive $400,000 to compete in next year’s contest. McIlroy said Europe’s finest do not need financial incentives to give their all in the biennial match against the United States.

“The two purest forms of competition in our game right now are the Ryder Cup and the Olympics, and it’s partly because of that, the purity of no money being involved,” McIlroy had told the BBC. Englishman Rose won Olympic gold in 2016 and had been part of four Ryder Cup-winning sides. “They are two of my top three moments in my career and none of them have been about the financial rewards,” Rose said in response to a question from AFP on the sidelines of the Hong Kong Open, which begins Thursday.

The thorny issue of being paid to play was “about what’s right collectively for your team,” added the 44-year-old former world number one. “I think for us we play for the badge and we also play for the European Tour,” he said. “The Ryder Cup probably does underpin quite a lot of things on the European Tour and it’s a great way of supporting the tour that gave us so much early in our careers. “If you’re doing it with that lens then that’s as great motivation as anything,” added the veteran, who won the US Open in 2013.

Rose will this week try to regain the Hong Kong Open title he won in 2015 against a field that includes US Ryder Cup player Patrick Reed and South Korea’s rising PGA Tour star Tom Kim. Rose said he struggled to understand the sums reportedly being offered on the US side. “I didn’t quite get it. It’s not four million dollars each,” said the former world number one. “It’s a lot of money, but it’s not changing any of those guys’ lives.” — AFP