A senior official has blamed Patrick Cantlay for the £450 million departure of Jon Rahm, which saw the PGA Tour backtrack on Saudi merger talks.
Rahm stunned the golf world on Thursday night by announcing his move to LIV Golf, despite repeatedly denying he would play in the Saudi Arabia-funded series. The loss of the world No.3 and current Masters champion has triggered a blame game among those remaining on the PGA Tour, with allegations of a player power coup led by American Ryder Cup star Cantlay being behind the Spaniard’s sudden change of heart.
“If Cantlay hadn’t tried to take over [PGA Tour] policy board, then Jay [Monahan, the PGA Tour commissioner] He would make a deal with the Saudis and the Public Investment Fund [PIF] “I wouldn’t feel the need to reopen that unlimited wallet to sign Rahm,” the industry-leading executive told Telegraph Sport.
“But the Saudis believed they were in danger of coming out of nowhere and being ostracized by US investors. [had] PIF took action because it was encouraged by several other players on the policy board.”
This dovetails with a report in popular US magazine Sports Illustrated, which claimed that in the early stages of negotiations between the PGA Tour and PIF, the Saudis offered a $1 billion “equalization pool” to PGA Tour players who rejected LIV offers. before the framework agreement [in June]”.
But with Cantlay leading the professionals’ revolt and ultimately six players on the policy board having the final say on any deal with PIF or other investors, the Saudis felt they could be left out.
As Monahan prepares to meet Yasir Al-Rumayyan, governor of the $700 billion PIF and chairman of both LIV and Newcastle United, Rahm has become attractive as a bargaining chip ahead of new negotiations.
“Saudi probably didn’t think things were going to work out to get a deal,” said Paul McGinley, former Ryder Cup captain and former DP World Tour board member. “So they pulled out the checkbook to turn things in their favor.”
McGinley expressed hope that an agreement could still be reached with the PIF, and said his wish was backed by countryman Rory McIlroy. Before resigning from his position on the policy board last month, McIlroy indicated he wanted the PIF to be involved. On Thursday, he again emphasized his concerns about whether they should be kept out.
“What I fear is that we continue down this path of eye-splitting, competing tours of the game,” he said. “The majority of people love the PGA Tour, but if the LIV gets a few players every year it’s going to be really fragmented and that’s not good for anyone.
“Golf as a sport will cannibalize itself. Having all the best golfers under one roof is the best way to progress. We need to get everyone back together and try to forget what happened in the past. Get well soon, let’s continue on our way together.”
But McIlroy is keenly aware that this scenario is in jeopardy given the current dynamic within the policy board. In August, Monahan tried to calm players’ unrest over being blindsided and, as Rahm said, “betrayed” by the framework agreement by giving voting control to the pros and agreeing to replace retiring former AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson with Tiger. Woods. Now, with a 6-5 split from players to managers, it will ultimately be the golfers who have the final say.
Sports Illustrated claims that Cantlay, Woods and Jordan Spieth, who took McIlroy’s place on the board, have formed an alliance that has attracted the attention of US investors, including Fenway Sports and Todd Boehly, the owners of Premier League clubs Liverpool and Chelsea.
But the publication singled out Cantlay as the one who “seized control” and “somehow transformed himself into arguably the most powerful person on the PGA Tour, including the commissioner.”
So the focus will fall on the world number 5. Cantlay is no stranger to controversy. He was accused of disrupting the U.S. team room at the Ryder Cup in Rome in September by refusing to wear the official hat in protest of players not being paid.
Telegraph Sport was told that week that a TV reporter casually asked Cantlay why he was hatless and that he pointed at a PGA of America official and said something to the effect of ‘because he’s paid to be here and I’m not’. .
Cantlay was jeered by fans in Rome before his US teammates gathered around him, waving their hats in the air in support. This led to unseemly and already infamous scenes between McIlroy and Cantlay caddy Joe LaCava on the 18th green and later in the parking lot.
Following this disagreement, McIlroy said: “My relationship with Cantlay is average at best. We don’t have a ton in common and we see the world quite differently.”
McIlroy cited time issues and the need to concentrate on his game as reasons for leaving the policy board, but his disagreements with Cantlay over the direction of direction in negotiations became the center of a complex narrative.
Next week, Monahan will try to assure Al-Rumayyan that Sawgrass HQ still wants a deal, but as Sports Illustrated puts it, “the Tour is in a worse negotiating position than it was this summer.”
Woods, Spieth and McIlroy did not respond to requests for comment, while Cantlay’s manager declined to respond when the allegations were brought to him by Sports Illustrated.
Rumors have circulated that LIV is in talks with other big names, while US Ryder Cup player Tony Finau has been mentioned repeatedly as a possible member of Rahm’s squad. The so-called peace has never looked so tenuous.