“It couldn’t be farther from the truth” - Patrick Cantlay slams golf reporter for sharing ‘outright lies’
Patrick Cantlay had to deal with the latest rumor over playing in the Ryder Cup without wearing his hat. While Team USA and Team Europe were busy doing their best to reach the top of the Ryder Cup scoreboard, Cantlay’s refusal to wear a hat became the talk of the town.
Since the beginning of the event, the eight-time PGA Tour winner was spotted not wearing the customized hat while playing at the Marco Simone Golf Course. Due to his action, Sky Sports Reporter Jamie Weir felt that the American professional golfer didn’t wear a hat because the players were not being paid for playing at the biennial event.
This sparked a controversy and spectators raised several questions regarding Cantlay’s action. Even on Saturday morning's Foursomes session, fans witnessed the talented golfer playing without the hat. However, this story has turned out to be baseless. Followers then supported Cantlay by waving their hats in response to the rumor.
Now, Patrick Cantlay has cleared the air after the post-round press conference during the singles session on the third day. NUCLR Golf shared the wording of the 31-year-old on their X (formerly Twitter) handle:
JUST IN: Patrick Cantlay SLAMS @jamiecweir reporting post round: “Dealing with some weird, completely false media stories from one person. It’s totally false. It couldn’t be farther from the truth. Outright lies.”
In reality, the world number 5 chose not to wear the hat because he didn’t like its fit. Even the USA team captain Zach Johnson has cleared the air on Patrick Cantlay's decision to go hatless. Also, this could be the reason that even last time at the Whistling Straits, Cantlay had refused to wear a hat.
Do Ryder Cup players receive money for participating in the biennial event?
After the controversy surrounding the hatless moment became public, fans were curious to know whether the squad members were being compensated or not. Discussions over the absence of remuneration are also happening at the Ryder Cup.
Well, it’s true that the players do not receive money for playing in this prestigious event. The players play in the event mostly for national pride and donate any proceeds to charitable organizations.
For Team USA, an amount of $200,000 is usually donated to the charity of each player's choice. Team Europe players usually receive gifts from their captain. On that note, it will be interesting to see who will win the 44th edition of the Ryder Cup event.