Patrick Cantlay commits to PGA Tour, said he ‘declined offers’ to join LIV Golf
Cantlay will begin the PGA Tour season this week at The Sentry in Hawaii
Though he’s had discussions about making the jump, and there have been plenty of rumors, Patrick Cantlay is staying put.
Cantlay confirmed to Golf.com’s Dylan Dethier that he won’t be joining LIV Golf anytime soon. He’s sticking with the PGA Tour, starting with The Sentry this week in Maui.
“It’s a personal calculation based on your values, your priorities, etc.,” he said. “So I don’t think it’s a surprise that there’s a certain type of player that’s tended to go over there, on the whole. For me? I have no plans on joining LIV. I don’t plan on joining LIV. I see myself playing on the PGA Tour.”
Cantlay would undoubtedly be a good get for the Saudi Arabian-backed LIV Golf as it enters its third season in 2024. He’s won eight times in his career, and he had 10 top-10 finishes last season on Tour. He ended the season at No. 5 in the FedExCup standings, and he’ll enter the 2024 season ranked No. 5 in the Official World Golf Rankings.
Though he didn’t get into specifics, Cantlay did say his team had met with LIV Golf officials multiple times in the past, including once in 2023, about joining the league.
“I declined offers,” Cantlay said. “Pre and post joining the [PGA Tour] board. And the most recent offer I got, I declined in the same meeting that my management team brought it to me.”
It’s unclear how LIV Golf and the PGA Tour will work together in 2024. The two sides, after the surprise partnership announcement in June, were supposed to formalize their plan with the DP World Tour by Dec. 31. That deadline passed without much of an update, though Tour commissioner Jay Monahan insisted they were making progress.
Cantlay joined the Tour’s policy board last year, which is something he said he’s taking “very seriously.” He reportedly was pushing golfers against the deal with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund in June, however he seems to have changed his tone on that.
“If the best option for the Tour is with PIF, then I’m all for that,” he said.
As for reports that he was “in control” and “arguably the most powerful person on the PGA Tour, including the commissioner,” however, Cantlay pushed back.
“I think if you just look at the facts that are out there, it would be impossible for any one player to take control,” he said. “I mean, it would be impossible for all the players together to take control; we only have half the seats on the board, and any major vote around any of the things we’ve been talking about requires a two-thirds majority. And also, considering that the Tour has hired [investment bank] Allen and Co., and given the Tour has been driving discussions since even before the framework agreement was announced, I mean, given that set of facts it’s just impossible for that to be the case.”
What about the Ryder Cup controversies?
Cantlay also opened up about the incidents at the Ryder Cup.
Cantlay didn’t wear a hat during the United States’ loss to the European Team in Rome, something that European fans used against him and made a scene of. There were reports that Cantlay wasn’t wearing his hat as a form of protest in order to be paid for playing in the event.
That, however, wasn’t the case. There was “zero divide” on the team, he said. His hat simply didn’t fit the way he wanted it to.
“If I was to make a protest, everyone would know what I’m protesting, why I’m protesting and how I’m protesting,” Cantlay said. “I would never, never do a silent protest.”
Cantlay was also part of a much larger feud between his caddie, Joe LaCava, and star European player Rory McIlroy. LaCava stepped in McIlroy’s way on the green at one point, which led to a very heated confrontation outside of the clubhouse. McIlroy was eventually shoved into a car and was taken away from the course.
Rory McIlroy is FIRED UP pic.twitter.com/zPurVi4RbV
— Rory Tracker (@RoryTrackr) September 30, 2023
LaCava and McIlroy have since apologized and cleared the air. Cantlay said that he’s in a good place with McIlroy now, too.
“I think we’re both highly competitive and we’re both trying to be the absolute best,” he said. “I think we both admire that part of each other. As far as the Policy Board goes, we’ve worked really closely together and had a really good working relationship over my year on the board.
“Look, I talked to him post-Ryder Cup and, y’know, everything was cordial and all good.”
