Only a few hours after Tiger Woods had hinted once more at a player boycott, all was sweetness and light yesterday between the PGA of America and its 16 Ryder Cup panelists. And the upshot was a climbdown by the authorities: payments will be made to charities agreed by the players for appearing in the Ryder Cup.

After an afternoon meeting here at Medinah between the players, their captain Ben Crenshaw, USPGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem and PGA of America chief executive Jim Awtry, no announcement was expected until today. But Awtry and Finchem felt it was time to clear the air, especially with the USPGA Championship only two days away.

So they announced jointly that everything had been sorted out. "We are going to work together and involve the players in a charitable input," said Awtry. "Not one player of the 16 wanted to be personally compensated and all were very supportive of the Ryder Cup." Finchem added: "They simply want more dialogue."

Both officials are hoping their prompt action will put an end to what has become a running sore over the last two years, with leading players flexing their muscles. Mark O'Meara was especially forthright in claiming players should be paid, though he added that the money could go to a nominated charity. More recently, the issue was taken up by David Duval and Tiger Woods.

Essentially, their concern is highlighted by the fact that out of projected revenues of $63 million from next month's Ryder Cup at Brookline, Boston, the PGA of America will have expenses amounting to $40 million. Tom Watson, who captained the US to victory at The Belfry in 1993, agreed that the PGA should be more forthcoming about how the money is spent. But he added pointedly: "Cash is not an issue; unity is. The European team have leadership, that's why they've been successful. We need leadership from within and that, in my book, means that Tiger Woods must lead."

But Woods didn't appear to have any great enthusiasm for the fight. "This is an exhibition and it's not going to make or break my career or anybody else's career," he said prior to the meeting.

"With all the money that's being made (from the Ryder Cup), I think we should have a say in where it goes. I would like to see us get 200, 300, 400 or 500,000 dollars and I think we should be able to keep the money and do whatever we see fit."

And if the PGA didn't deliver, could it result in a boycott? "Well it could," he replied. "But will it happen? That's a different story. Maybe the next Ryder Cup will be handled a little differently."

Later, according to Awtry and Finchem, there was no hint of discord. "Basically, the players know where the money (from the Ryder Cup) is going," said Awtry. "I feel very good about the outcome of this meeting and I couldn't be more proud of these players."

Though the officials very short on detail, both talked about "a determination that there should be charitable giving." The details still have to be worked out.

One suspects their move may have been accelerated by some well-chosen remarks from Lee Westwood earlier in the day. A cynic might have seen it as a rather well-timed pre-emptive European strike, prior to the actual business of defending the trophy.

"I grew up watching Nick Faldo, Seve and Woosie playing for the Ryder Cup," said the world number six and recently-crowned Smurfit European Open champion. "When I was watching it at the end of the eighties and start of the nineties, the last thing on the players' minds was looking for money."

He went on: "You knew they were out there for the honour of representing their country and their continent. That was the way I was brought up about how the Ryder Cup should be played. It's an honour for me to represent England and Europe and I am conscious of the fact that we have bonus-related things.

"For instance, they're saying the Ryder Cup is a qualification for the NEC Invitational in two weeks, when there's minimum prize money of $25,000 for last spot. So, it's almost like they're already paying us to play in the Ryder Cup."

Laudable as Westwood's sentiments undoubtedly are, the Americans also have a point of view. Ten years ago, when the European Tour was seeing none of the profits from the Ryder Cup after a relatively lucrative staging at The Belfry, executive director Ken Schofield threatened a boycott unless the situation was changed.

Peace reigned in Europe only when agreement was reached between the Tour and the British PGA that they would each enjoy the benefits of the Ryder Cup, every four years. So it is that the PGA will be the beneficiaries at The Belfry in 2001 and the European Tour will reap the rewards from The K Club in 2005.

On the other hand, the PGA of America, which incidentally is a non profit-making organisation, doesn't have the same degree of transparency. Essentially, the profits in the US are split between the PGA of America and the host venue, while the USPGA Tour gets only a small percentage of the television revenue.

So, the only reason Finchem hasn't created the sort of rumpus that we had from Schofield 10 years ago, is that unlike his European counterpart, Finchem doesn't need the money.