Patrick Cantlay says a report stating he was leading a split in a “fractured” US Ryder Cup team are “complete lies” and “totally unfounded.”
The American has been at the centre of controversy since the report broke, claiming that he was unhappy that US players weren’t being paid for their appearances in the Ryder Cup.
As a result, it said Cantlay had refused to attend the gala dinner before the match, was using a separate area of the US locker room with good friend Xander Schauffele and wouldn’t wear a team cap in protest.
That led to members of the crowd mocking Cantlay throughout the Saturday afternoon fourball session, removing their hats in reference to the supposed rift and which later led to a heated moment between his caddie Joe LaCava and Rory McIlroy after LaCava waved his cap around as McIlroy tried to concentrate on a putt.
However, Cantlay has dismissed the report. After winning his Sunday singles match against Justin Rose 2&1, which temporarily kept US hopes of an improbable victory alive, he turned his attentions to the controversy, and first admitted he enjoyed his back and forth with the fired-up crowd.
Patrick Cantlay won his Ryder Cup singles match against Justin Rose
(Image credit: Getty Images)
He said: “The fans are invested. You have to embrace it. I did my best to embrace it. Unfortunately, completely false media stories from just one person, and the crowd took it and ran with it. And that’s all right. I had fun with them today.”
Cantlay then focused on the report, insisting there was no truth in the notion that he was upset about a lack of pay. He continued: “It’s totally false. It couldn’t be further from the truth. There hasn’t been one word of that all week. The US team has been close all week.”
He continued: “Yeah, not a shred of truth in the article that just one journalist wrote. It’s crazy that one journalist can put a tweet out there totally unfounded with complete lies. The crowd ran with it, and I tried to have fun with them all day, smile. That’s what this event is about. You’ve got to embrace the crowd, and, you know, I’m happy to be out there today.”
If anything Cantlay thrived on the atmosphere,…
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