Cantlay was criticized by the European public but lost with a superb putt on the 18th green Photo: PGA of America/Maddie Meyer
Amidst all the hat-waving, taunting and Rory McIlroy's royal brawl with Joe LaCava on the 18th green and subsequent confrontation in the parking lot that is sure to go down in golf's ignominious history, a serious question was raised on Saturday: Will Ryder Cup Players have to be paid?
It doesn't really matter whether the Sky Sports report that led to #hatgate, which talks about a rift in the Team USA dressing room, is accurate. Or Patrick Cantlay, performing without a hat at Marco Simone, protesting that he isn't getting paid to be there, or because he can't find something that suits him. The debate over whether players should be paid continues regardless.
The arguments for this are quite simple. The Ryder Cup has become a financial juggernaut and players involved are asked to put a lot of effort into it. They're «stars» (well, some of them anyway — Cantlay, despite being number five in the world, would probably abscond with a one-man police force). Therefore, they deserve a share of the profits.
This is a valid point of view, but certainly wrong. The truth is that the Ryder Cup is bigger than any player. It is special precisely because players are not paid to stay here. They play because, just like the Olympics, it is golf's greatest honor to be invited to represent their country/continent.
Money does not matter. All the players are quite wealthy and will likely become even richer after the Ryder Cup simply because their profile will rise. The Ryder Cup can make an entire career, just ask postman Ian Poulter. Cantlie will also find his profile greatly enhanced by that 18th-minute strike that won the final four-goal match on Saturday, followed by a hat-waving celebration. Until Saturday, he was probably best known for being criticized for his slow play at the Masters.
Spectators waved their caps in front of Cantlay throughout the second day of the Ryder Cup. Photo: PA/David Davies 
Team USA gestures back to supporters on the 18th green Photo: AP/Alessandra Tarantino
Either way, Ryder Cup players are rewarded in different ways. The PGA of America gives each US player $200,000, half of which they can donate to a charity of their choice and the other half goes to the Boys & Women's Club of America, Drive, Chip & Putting Championship and Junior PGA League. This is in addition to all team property, scholarships, free tickets for friends and family, gifts and so on. In 2018, Thomas Bjorn bought each member of his team a personalized Rolex watch when Europe won the competition.
Whatever your opinion, there's probably one thing we can all agree on. At a time when inflation is rampant and people are struggling to pay their household bills, the sight of multi-millionaires demanding even more money to attend an event most fans would give their right hands to play for free is grotesque. . The game is flush with money at the moment and players, whether on LIV or the PGA Tour with its «Player Impact Program», have never had it better.
As has the ongoing struggle between players and players. The PGA of America, with the rebellious LIV Series that has torn a hole in the cozy status quo, is making this whole hunger for more money look ugly.
That's probably why Cantlay was rather cagey when asked afterwards whether he thought players should be recruited for the Ryder Cup. If he holds this point of view, he is not yet ready to say it out loud. “That’s not the point,” he said. “This is just about Team USA and representing our country.” Asked if this involved payment, he added: “That’s all I can say about it.”
Johnson was less ambiguous, expressing the views of most fans. “When it comes to dollar signs, I don’t want to sound corny, but the Ryder Cup is more than all that. It's about being with a group of guys to represent your nation, to represent bigger than yourself in the game of golf. It’s a one-week sport,” he said. “And you know what, I would say that if something has to do with money, there are guys who are willing to pay to be a part of it.”
It's true. And here's another: If they don't like it, no one forces them to play.
Cantlie endures ridicule from the European public. Writer's Opinions: Oliver Brown at the Ryder Cup in Rome
“Hats off to your bank account,” several Europa fans chanted, waving their caps in the air as Patrick Cantlay headed toward the 16th green. “Go for Cantlie,” others taunted. Considered one of the most bizarre scenes in recent Ryder Cup history, a senior American player became the target of widespread ridicule over an allegation, which he later denied, that he had refused to wear a headdress in protest at not being allowed to are paid to participate in competitions. . All in all, this is just an example of the chaos that the dysfunctional American team found itself in.
Yet his tormentors did not take into account the resilience of the man himself. No sooner had Cantlay faced that raucous welcome party than he shoved the joke down their throats again, firing three nerve-wracking putts on the final three holes to grab the point and ignite the faint hope of a red, white and blue resurgence. Even his teammates had to acknowledge his chutzpah, collectively doffing their hats outside the 18th green as the crimson sun set on a day filled with intrigue.
Except Joe LaCava, Cantlay's caddy, came out too early and raised his cap just as Rory McIlroy was preparing a putt that could have saved the decisive half for Europe and what was sure to be an insurmountable 11-5 lead. In the blink of an eye, the hosts went from celebrating their upcoming coronation to reproaching their opponents for their perceived classlessness. Forget about peace, love and understanding. McIlroy was so enraged by the incident with LaCava that after the round, Shane Lowry forced him into his car before he did anything he regretted.
Yes, strictly speaking, LaCava's gesture was contrary to the spirit of the game. But it also lit the fuse in simmering Ryder Cup tensions, setting up a final-day showdown that no one, until a late turn of events, could have predicted. Indeed, the momentum shifts do not become sharper. Until the very last hour here at Marco Simone, the Americans kept an eye on the score, their misery a shining relief after losing the fours of 9 and 7 to Scotty Scheffler and Brooks Koepka, the worst defeat in the history of the tournament.
But out of the chaos came an incredible reprieve: the United States received psychological support in the form of a hat scandal. Suddenly they had a reason to mobilize, a motive that inspired them to revive the once dying campaign. Hats up: this spectacle could still haunt Europeans who dared to dream of a Sunday procession.
Cantlie is essentially an unlikely lightning rod for a counteroffensive. He may seem empty, brooding, incomprehensible. In the team photo with Xander Schauffele, he had such a forlorn expression on his face that it looked like he'd rather be anywhere else than the Ryder Cup. He also did nothing to refute accusations that he wanted to be rewarded for his appearance, saying at his press conference: “I have nothing more to say about this.”
But strangely, statements Greed directed against him initiated this return to America. Or at least the opposite reaction. When a Sky reporter claimed that Cantlie's lack of hat was a deliberate rebuke of the PGA of America for not rewarding him financially at the Ryder Cup — a characterization he rejected, saying he had done the same at Whistling Slates two years earlier — word spread like wildfire. Cantlay could hardly accept that he was ridiculed by European supporters for the very idea that he viewed golf's greatest competition as just another pay day.
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