Patrick Cantlay and Team USA got off to the worst start possible at Day 1 of the Ryder Cup in Rome. The Americans saw Team Europe jump out to the largest lead in tournament history with a 6.5-0.5 advantage.
To say that the United States was frustrated would be an understatement. Brooks Koepka was infuriated with his and his team’s performance, and chirped Jon Rahm for an angry tirade back in June.
According to Jamie Weir (no relation) of Sky Sports News, the issues go deeper than the on-course play. Patrick Cantlay is not wearing a hat while competing.
Apparently that is a big deal.
Understand from several sources that the US team room is fractured, a split led predominantly by Patrick Cantlay. Cantlay believes players should be paid to participate in the Ryder Cup, and is demonstrating his frustration at not being paid by refusing to wear a team cap.
He wore a cap at last year’s Presidents Cup, for which players ARE paid. Cantlay also refused to attend the gala dinner earlier in the week and, along with close friend Xander Schauffele, is sitting is a separate area of the team dressing room.
— Jamie Weir on X, formerly known as Twitter
There has been a lot of pushback on Weir’s report. A large contingency of golf media believes that it is entirely false. Other reports have said that Weir completely missed the mark.
Cantlay was at the gala dinner earlier in the week.
When asked for comment, the United States camp did not have anything to say. It simply pointed out that Cantlay also did not wear a hat at the Ryder Cup in 2021, which basically implied that Weir is wrong.
Weir says that Cantlay’s lack of hat two years ago further proves his point.
Pointing out he didn’t wear a cap two years ago merely says he believed he should’ve been paid then too and his position hasn’t changed!!
— Jamie Weir on X, formerly known as Twitter
To make matters worse, a large part of Weir’s report had to do with the idea that Cantlay wore a hat at the President’s Cup last year because golfers are paid to participate. They are not, so Weir backtracked.
(Amendment to this: players don’t get paid to participate in Presidents Cup. But it is a PGA Tour event, not a PGA of America event, with whom Cantlay has a bigger axe to grind)
— Jamie Weir on X, formerly known as Twitter
Whether the report is accurate or not (it seems perhaps not), the report exists. Everybody who cares about golf and the Ryder Cup saw the report.
Patrick Cantlay was mocked by European fans.
On Saturday, one day after Weir’s report, those rooting against the United States took the opportunity to try and rattle Cantlay. To do so, they removed the hats from their head — like Cantlay, who does not wear a hat — and waved them right in his face.
Credit where credit is due, it was a fantastic effort from the Europeans. They saw the opportunity to jump all over Cantlay and took it.
However, if Weir’s report is not true, Cantlay would likely have no issue shaking off the hecklers. Even still, he couldn’t avoid the hats. Something that Cantlay would prefer not to discuss or even think about was unavoidable.
Well done, European fans. Shame on you, Jamie Weir!