REVEALED: The real figure Patrick Cantlay turned down to join LIV Golf

Patrick Cantlay turned down huge bucks to join the LIV Golf League, claims Alan Shipnuck.

04 Oct 2023

REVEALED: The real figure Patrick Cantlay turned down to join LIV Golf

Patrick Cantlay might be frustrated to miss out on a fee to play in the Ryder Cup but seemingly the fee he was offered to join the Saudi-bankrolled LIV Golf League earlier this season was not big enough.

Cantlay, 31, was heavily linked with a move away from the PGA Tour to join LIV Golf earlier this season.

So too was his pal Xander Schauffele.

But both of them turned offers down.

While it had never officially been revealed what the signing-on fee was for Cantlay to join LIV Golf, it has now been confirmed by golf biographer Alan Shipnuck as $75m.

Shipnuck also revealed how a fellow Tour pro thinks Cantlay is a "terrific penis".

You would imagine Schauffele would have been offered a similar signing-on fee as Cantlay given their status in the game.

Both of them also have yet to win a major championship, although you would fully expect that to change in the near future.

Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau both reportedly joined LIV Golf last season in deals in the region of $130m.

Cameron Smith and Dustin Johnson reportedly both joined LIV Golf for fees double that of Cantlay's offer at $150m.

Phil Mickelson joined LIV Golf for the most amount at $200m.

Hideki Matsuyama and Jon Rahm turned down the biggest numbers.

Shipnuck revealed the LIV Golf offer for Cantlay in an extract for his new book 'LIV and Let Die'.

He also disclosed in his latest extract how a LIV Golf star ripped into Sky Sports' Jamie Weir at the 150th Open Championship, as well as how Tiger Woods got Phil Mickelson blocked from attending the Open Champions Dinner that week.

Shipnuck writes:

As contentious as the battle between LIV Golf and the PGA Tour has been, winning the peace was never going to be easy. Patrick Cantlay is a member of the Tour’s board, which must ratify any final agreement with the PIF. He is known for driving hard bargains; a fellow player who has worked with Cantlay on governance issues calls him “a terrific penis.” Translation: He’s a dick. (Of course, if Cantlay is salty perhaps it is because he turned down a $75 million offer from LIV.)

It is understood Patrick Cantlay and Schauffele are both not happy about playing in the Ryder Cup for nothing.

While Cantlay chose not to speak any further about that at last week's Ryder Cup, he did hit out at a Sky Sports report that claimed he had been causing a rift in the Team USA camp last week over the topic.

Cantlay called it "false" information and he also played down all talk he was refusing to wear a cap at the Ryder Cup as a result of not being paid for competing in the US team.

He admitted the cap just "doesn't fit".

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