Two stars at centre of Ryder Cup “split” quit PGA Tour event as Tiger Woods returns

Tiger Woods will play in his first PGA Tour event in seven months at the upcoming Hero World Challenge, but will not be joined by the initially committed Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay.

Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele have opted to withdraw from this month’s Hero World Challenge, after it was announced that the event would play host to Tiger Woods’ competitive return.

Cantlay and Schauffele were initially named as two of the 19 players committed to the event taking place at Albany Golf Club in the Bahamas. One space in the 20-man field had been left vacant with the tag ‘TBA Tournament Exemption’, and this has since been taken by Woods who has not competed since withdrawing from the Masters in April.

Whilst Woods’ long-awaited return was confirmed, there was also news of two tournament withdrawals, with both Cantlay and Schauffele now opting to skip the year-ending event in the Caribbean.

Their decision to sit out the limited-admission tournament comes just over a month after the pair were embroiled in controversy at the Ryder Cup in Rome. Cantlay and Schauffele were both part of the 12-man U.S. team that lost 16.5 to 11.5 to European rival Marco Simone.

It was a week to forget for the Americans, especially Cantlay and Schauffele, both on and off the course. On the second day of the event, Sky Sports reported that the former caused a “split” in Team USA’s locker room because players participating in team events were not being paid.

The report claimed that both Cantlay and Schauffele, who were known to be close friends, sat separately from other teammates in the U.S. locker room, a claim that was later downplayed by the U.S. camp. It was also reported that Cantlay decided not to wear a hat to protest the lack of pay as a national representative.

Cantlay denied there was any conflict within the team, but the former FedEx Cup champion did not deny his frustration at not being paid to play. When asked about this issue in Rome, he said: “It doesn’t matter. It’s all about Team USA and representing our country.

” When asked about this issue, he said: And he answered again: “That’s all I want to say about that.” The hat doesn’t fit. It didn’t fit at Whistling Straits, and didn’t fit this week. Everyone knows that.” Schauffele also found himself embroiled in the saga, after his father Stefan insinuated that those representing Team USA should receive a share of the profit made by the PGA of America – the organisation in charge of the U.S. Ryder Cup setup.

Schauffele was quick to jump to the defence of his father in the aftermath, claiming his comments surrounding pay were ‘skewed’. The American and his teammate Patrick Cantlay have been replaced by European rival Justin Rose and fellow American Lucas Glover at this month’s event in the Bahamas.