Reporter reveals new quotes from Patrick Cantlay on why he refused Ryder Cup cap

Just when you thought Patrick Cantlay's Ryder Cup 'hatgate' was over, new quotes have emerged in a report from Michael Bamberger.

Andy Roberts

08 Oct 2023

Reporter reveals fresh quotes on why Patrick Cantlay did not wear Ryder Cup cap — Reporter reveals fresh quotes on why Patrick Cantlay did not wear Ryder…

Patrick Cantlay reportedly told veteran NBC Sports reporter and interviewer Steve Sands "I'll wear a hat when I'm paid to be here" as he walked to the 1st tee for his Friday Fourballs match at the Ryder Cup, according to Michael Bamberger of The Fire Pit Collective.

Bamberger's account follows the controversial tweet of Sky Sports reporter Jamie Weir, who revealed from his sources that Cantlay had refused to wear a Team USA cap as a protest for not being compensated for competing in the Ryder Cup.

For the 2023 Ryder Cup, the PGA of America made 12 separate donations of $200,000 to a charity chosen by every player in the team.

NEW: WEIR AND EX TOUR PRO COME TO BLOWS OVER RYDER CUP DEBATE

Cantlay's money is going to his Patrick Cantlay Foundation, which supports junior golf and first responder programs.

But the players do not directly receive their own money for competing in the Ryder Cup.

Weir also reported how Cantlay declined an invitation to the gala dinner earlier in the week that was attended by the wives and girlfriends of Team Europe and Team USA.

It was understood per Weir's tweet the USA team room had been "fractured" by the actions of Cantlay in the build-up to the Ryder Cup in Rome.

Reporter reveals new quotes from Patrick Cantlay on why he refused Ryder Cup cap

All of these claims were shut down by not just Cantlay but the rest of the team, too.

Cantlay claimed the reason for not wearing a cap, just like he did at the 2021 Ryder Cup at Whistling Straits, was because it "did not fit".

As the Ryder Cup played out, Cantlay was ripped by European golf fans on just about every hole he played for not wearing a cap.

European fans took off their caps and waved them in the air as Cantlay trudged around Marco Simone.

"[There's] not a shred of truth in the article that just one journalist wrote," said Cantlay. "It's crazy that one journalist can put a tweet out there totally unfounded with complete lies and the crowd ran with it, and I tried to have fun with them all day, smile."

Cantlay and Team USA then got their own back on the fans on the 18th hole Saturday afternoon as Cantlay binned a putt from long range to win his fourballs match alongside Wyndham Clark against Rory McIlroy and Matt Fitzpatrick.

Joe LaCava went wild with 'hatgate' and it irked McIlroy so much that it all kicked off the green and then again in the car park.

In the Sunday Singles, players such as Xander Schauffele, Collin Morikawa and Justin Thomas all played without a cap on to show their support for Cantlay.

But despite a late US fightback midway through the Sunday Singles, the damage had been done on Friday when USA lost by five points as they failed to register a single winning point on the first day for the first time in their Ryder Cup history.

USA shared the points over the next two days to lose 16.5-11.5 to Europe as their wretched run away from home in the biennial dust-up continued having never won on European soil since 1993.

Cantlay lost his first two matches but then rallied late over the weekend playing some fantastic golf in the process to win his last two games.

But back to the original story and some 10 days on since Weir's tweet seemingly rocked the Ryder Cup and the Team USA locker room at large, Bamberger has divulged fresh details from his own sources as to what Cantlay allegedly revealed as he boarded the 1st tee alongside Schauffele bright and early last Friday morning at the Ryder Cup.

According to Bamberger, Cantlay told NBC reporter Sands: "I'll wear a hat when I'm paid to be here like he is" as he motioned in the direction of Julius Mason, a long-time PGA of America PR executive.

Bamberger explains how this account was shared to him by "three Americans who were at this year's Ryder Cup in different official capacities".

Here's what Bamberger pens in his latest column for 'The Fire Pit Collective':

On the Friday morning of the 2023 Ryder Cup, Patrick Cantlay emerged from a temporary tunnel underneath the first-tee bleachers and into the bright sunshine of Rome on a warm September day. He was not wearing a hat. Normally, he plays golf in a hat, but HatGate, as a buzz word of the 44th Ryder Cup, did not yet exist.

“No hat?” Steve Sands, the veteran NBC Sports reporter and interviewer, said upon seeing Cantlay.

Cantlay was in the fourth and last group of the morning session, playing with his regular wingman, Xander Schauffele. They are both Californians who do not seem to crave the spotlight. Cantlay was wearing the same dark blue pants and dark blue shirt with horizontal stripes as his 11 American teammates. The only thing missing was the official team cap, a blue-and-white trucker hat with the letters USA on the panel above the brim. It wasn’t like he forgot to put it on.

The bleachers were stuffed with 5,000 fans. The perimeter of the first tee was crowded with dozens of Ryder Cup officials, caddies and players and assistant captains, camera operators and photographers and media members, Steve Sands among them.

Sands enjoys a good rapport and a casual ease with scores of PGA Tour players, Cantlay, 31, an eight-time Tour winner, is among them. Cantlay did not blow him off.

“I’ll wear a hat when I’m paid to be here like he is,” Cantlay said. He motioned in the direction of Julius Mason, a longtime PGA of America public relations executive, standing in the vicinity.

Cantlay’s response to Sands was shared with me by three Americans who were at this year’s Ryder Cup in different official capacities. (I was not there.) There were slight variations in the exact wording of Cantlay’s response. In one version, for instance, Mason was cited by name. But there was no material differences in what he was quoted as saying as he walked on to the first tee.

READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE

What do you make of these latest reported Cantlay quotes? Was he really competing in the Ryder Cup without a cap because of pay or because it did not fit right? What did you make of the Ryder Cup in general? Share your thoughts and comments over on the GolfMagic social media channels.