Report: Patrick Cantlay Refusing to Wear Team USA Ryder Cup Hat over Pay Dispute

Patrick Cantlay reportedly partook in a silent protest Saturday at the 2023 Ryder Cup regarding the subject of golfer compensation.

According to Jamie Weir of Sky Sports, Cantlay did not wear his Team USA hat during morning foursomes on Saturday due to his belief that Ryder Cup players should be paid. He was also hatless during afternoon four-balls.

Cantlay reportedly also declined to attend the gala dinner this week, and he is reportedly sitting in a different part of the locker room along with teammate and close friend Xander Schauffele.

USA Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson later said the report regarding Cantlay was "extremely inaccurate" and "borderline irresponsible."

After finishing afternoon four-balls on Saturday, Cantlay denied the report and laughed it off, saying the only reason why he didn't wear the hat was because it didn't fit:

Per Weir, American player Max Homa denied that there are any issues within the Team USA camp when asked about the squad's morale, saying: "Great. We know how good we are. Everybody knows how good the man to my left is. We obviously are in a big hole but we have the right guys to dig ourselves out of it."

Cantlay played in the Presidents Cup last year and wore the hat even though players were not paid, but that event is run by the PGA Tour, whereas the Ryder Cup is run by PGA of America, which is where Cantlay's frustrations reportedly lie.

Per Golf.com's Josh Berhow, members of the Ryder Cup team are each given $200,000 to donate to a charity of their choice, but they are not paid otherwise.

The Ryder Cup is one of the most popular events in golf and typically does huge television numbers, but only 20 percent of the media rights fees go toward the PGA Tour players' deferred compensation plans.

Team USA got off to a nightmarish start Friday at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Rome, Italy, losing all four of the opening foursomes matches before losing one of the afternoon four-balls matches and halving the other three.

Cantlay and Schauffele fell 2 & 1 to Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood on Friday, and in morning foursomes on Saturday, Cantlay and Schauffele once again suffered a 2 & 1 defeat to Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton.

In Saturday's afternoon four-balls, Cantlay teamed with Wyndham Clark against McIlroy and Matt Fitzpatrick, and scored a come-from-behind win thanks to three birdies over the final three holes by Cantlay.

Europe enters the final day of the Ryder Cup with a 10.5-5.5 lead, meaning it needs four points in Sunday's singles matches to clinch the victory.

The 31-year-old Cantlay has never won a major, but he is currently the No. 4 player in the world and has eight career PGA Tour wins to his credit.

Per CBS Sports, Cantlay ranked seventh on the PGA Tour earnings list in 2023 with over $10.3 million in winnings.