Patrick Cantlay questioned why Team USA players weren’t paid to feature in Rome; Cantlay and close friend Xander Schauffele are believed to be sitting in a separate area of the team’s dressing room
By means of Jamie Weir
12:00, UK, Saturday 30 September 2023
Team USA was embroiled in an internal dispute during the Ryder Cup after Patrick Cantlay questioned why players were not paid to feature in Rome.
Sky Sports understands that Cantlay’s behavior has caused a split within the room of Zach Johnson’s team at the Marco Simone GC, where the USA trailed by a record equal margin on the opening day.
Cantlay believes players should be paid to participate in the Ryder Cup and showed his frustration at not being paid by refusing to wear a team cap in Saturday’s foursomes, having worn a cap last year the Presidents Cup.
The Presidents Cup is a PGA Tour event, not a PGA of America event, where Cantlay has a bigger ax to grind.
Nicolas Colsaerts beats the Ryder Cup crowd on the first tee before day two at the Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Rome
The former FedExCup champion also refused to attend the gala dinner earlier in the week and, along with his close friend Xander Schauffele, sat in a separate area in the team’s dressing room.
Before the Ryder Cup it was widely reported that the same pair were the ones who refused to allow Netflix cameras access to the team room, with both players also missing from Team USA’s pre-event scouting mission in Rome in early September.
Scheffler cried after the record loss
World number one Scottie Scheffler cried after he and Brooks Koepka suffered a record 9&7 loss to Ludvig Aberg and Viktor Hovland
World No 1 Scottie Scheffler broke down in tears after he and Brooks Koepka suffered a record-breaking loss against Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Åberg in the Saturday foursomes.
The American pair were five inside the opening three holes and fell to a 9&7 defeat, shattering the previous record foursomes win by 7&6 and the largest margin of 18-hole victory in Ryder history. Cup.
Ludvig Aberg and Viktor Hovland set a Ryder Cup record when they defeated Scottie Scheffler and Brooks Koepka in a 9&7 victory on the second day.
Europe is three over three despite over par and took the fourth hole when Åberg almost made a hole-in-one, with the home pair birdieing the sixth and then won four successive holes from the eighth to complete a dramatic victory.
“We played two strong guys – the No 1 in the world and a five-time major champion – and we didn’t give them anything,” Hovland said. “We played really, really hard. I don’t think we could have done any better.”
McGinley: Something happened… are they serious?
Paul McGinley is baffled by Team USA’s performance so far at the Ryder Cup and praises Luke Donald for Team Europe’s success
Paul McGinley on Sky Sports:
“It’s unbelievable that there’s no reaction. It makes me think: what’s going on behind the scenes? What kind of attitude, atmosphere? Are these guys preparing to play in the Ryder Cup?
“It’s very clear in their schedules that they’re not. Nine out of 12 have four weeks off and don’t play a golf tournament; they’re never going to go to a major on the back of four weeks off.” .
“Do they treat it as seriously as a mayor?
“There’s something going on, they can’t play as bad as they are.”
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