PGA Tour golfer Patrick Cantlay is said to be still bitter that he rejected a huge offer from the rival LIV Golf League.
PGA Tour golfer Patrick Cantlay is reportedly still obstructing peace talks with LIV’s backers because he ‘remains bitter’ he rejected such a large offer from the breakaway, according to a report.
The claim was made by golf journalist and author Alan Shipnuck in his most recent Q&A for MyGolfSpy.
Cantlay has been a top 100 ranked golfer since LIV’s noisy introduction to the sport two years ago.
Therefore it is no surprise that he was targeted by the breakaway league.
Cantlay has confirmed that he rejected offers from LIV before and after he joined the PGA Tour’s policy board.
According to Shipnuck, Cantlay was offered an eye-watering $75m to jump ship but he turned it down.
Wrote Shipnuck:
“Cantlay is one of the key obstructions in the neverending PIF-Tour negotiations and therefore partially responsible for the game remaining broken.
“He remains bitter that he turned down a $75-million offer from LIV and is now exacting his pound of flesh.”
Why is Patrick Cantlay accused of causing a problem?.
Some of the details of Cantlay pertaining the PGA Tour-PIF negotiations have been reignited in the media.
The PGA Tour signed a framework agreement with PIF and the DP World Tour back in June this year but no deal has been signed.
One of the problmes, according to it, is that power has moved from the owners to the players.
That was evidenced when Woods joined the board, unelected to the position, and with an indefinite term of office.
There have been buzz about Cantlay holding extremely personal views to the policy board after controversy, with the 2023 Ryder Cup.
He denied this was the case and was supported by his teammates.
But hat-gate only fuelled controversy he was upset with the current structure of men’s professional golf.
Cantlay is also good friends with two-time major winner Xander Schauffele.
Schauffele has been critical of PGA Tour boss Jay Monahan, even calling for his resignation.
It has been alleged that Cantlay has been pushing back against a deal with the PIF because the players would lose leverage.
For his part, Cantlay has explicitly denied being involved in efforts to block or hinder a peace deal.
At the turn of the year, he gave a rare, in-depth interview with GOLF where he opened up on the subject of control.
“I care a lot about the PGA Tour,” he said.
“I grew up wanting to play on the PGA Tour and win tournaments on the PGA Tour, and I’ve been fortunate enough to have done that.
So when I joined the board, I viewed that as a responsibility. It was important for me to take that very seriously and I have taken that very seriously.”
He added: “My goal, being on the PGA Tour policy board, is to represent all the members, both current and future, to the best of my ability.
“And so that’s what I’ve been trying to do. That’s what all the player directors have been trying to do.
“And we’ve been working really closely together over the last many months as a unit to make the best collective decisions that represent the interests of all the members.”
Denying the rumours about him, he added: “I just don’t think you can trust everything you read on the internet.
To me it is impossible to propose any one player since, as I said when viewing the facts of the available evidence it can not be done.
I mean that it would be absurd to try to gain the upper hand all at once: the best we can do is elect half the board.
“And any major vote around any of the things we have been discussing, including any change in the law, needs a two-thirds majority.”
‘Tour has employed [investment bank] Allen and Co, and anyway, the Tour has been in the driving seat in setting the pace of the talks even before the framework agreement was signed, let alone the given facts of the case.’