Cantlay warned Team USA 'will find someone else' at Ryder Cup over pay demand
Patrick Cantlay has been warned by former European captain Bernard Gallacher that he could miss out on representing the United States at future Ryder Cups if he demands to be paid to compete at the matchplay event.
Cantlay found himself at the centre of an alleged 'split' within the U.S. Ryder Cup setup at this year's event, after Sky Sports reported the American was refusing to wear a cap in protest at not being paid to play. The claims surrounding 'cap-gate' were played down by both player, and his captain Zach Johnson.
This issue of pay though did not go away, after the former FedEx Cup champion refused to comment when being questioned whether he felt he should receive a cheque for representing his country on the Ryder Cup stage
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On the back of the reports, the pay row became one of the big talking points coming out of Europe's 16.5-11.5 victory over Cantlay and co at Marco Simone. One man who knows the Ryder Cup better than most is three-time European skipper Gallacher, and he has made his feelings extremely clear when it comes to players' pay demands.
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So much so, the Golf Care Ambassador believes those in charge of the United States Ryder Cup setup would opt to freeze Cantlay out of future teams if he was to demand payment to compete. Gallacher told Mirror Sport: " I think they [PGA of America] are going to say, ‘well if he doesn’t want to play in the Ryder Cup without being paid, we’ll find somebody else', and I think the players will go along with that.”
The saga surrounding Cantlay's cap (or refusal to wear one) dominated day two of the event this autumn, but it only appeared to spur the American on. After rumours spread across Marco Simone about his alleged protest, the European crowd goaded Cantlay by waving their headwear in his direction throughout his fourball match alongside Wyndham Clark against Rory McIlroy and Matt Fitzpatrick.
Patrick Cantlay competed without a cap at the recent Ryder Cup (ETTORE FERRARI/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock)It was Cantlay however who had the last laugh (albeit short-lived) as he showed exactly why he is one of the top players on the planet, defeating his two European rivals with the help of the U.S. Open champion. For this, Gallacher could only tip his hat in admiration.
" It didn’t seem to affect his [Cantlay's] form," Gallacher said. "Even though his attitude may have been that he thought he should be paid, it didn’t affect him on the golf course because he produced his best golf which was great.”
Regardless of his form, there still appeared to be an underlying pay issue for the American, which led to the former European skipper highlighting that those representing the United States at the matchplay event do in fact benefit financially via other means. "The players in America are paid in many ways to play," he added.
"There is money put into their charity, their pension fund, into the PGA Tour. So they are not being paid per se, but they are being paid in other ways handsomely." Gallacher went on to allude to the fact that Cantlay would not be the first to demand a Ryder Cup salary, with both David Duval and Mark O'Meara singing from the hymn sheet at the 1999 Ryder Cup.
For the Scot though, the day players are paid to represent either the USA or Europe, would prove to be a sad one for the historic matchplay clash. " The Ryder Cup is bigger than that," he said. "For me the Ryder Cup would lose everything it has got if players are paid to play. That is not what it is about.”
Despite his concerns, Gallacher does however believe that a Ryder Cup pay day is one that will never arise. He went on: "If players want to be paid to play in the Ryder Cup, then that will be a sad day for the Ryder Cup. I personally don't think that will ever happen."
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