To follow the Ryder Cup singles match between Patrick Cantlay and Justin Rose around the Marco Simone Golf & Country Club on Sunday afternoon was to witness a man being pilloried and mocked over the idea that golfers should be paid to play in one of the most assiduously and relentlessly corporate events in the whole of sport.
Let us leave aside for a moment the small matter of the fact that Cantlay, one of the USA’s best players in their defeat by Europe, described as ‘outright lies’ a broadcaster’s report that he refused to wear a cap at the Ryder Cup as a protest against the fact that players play for free in the competition.
That denial did not hold any sway with the tens of thousands of supporters who baited him for being a mercenary by waving their caps in the air as he walked down the fairways, brandishing bank notes at him and singing the lyrics to Jessie J’s Price Tag as he walked past on his way to a 2&1 win over the Englishman.
But even if it had been a protest, so what? If it had been a protest, I would have been on his side. All in on his side, actually.
And on the side of any other player who might have wished to point out, as gently as possible, that not paying players to play in an event that was forecast to generate more than £445million in revenue feels like an absurd anachronism.
Patrick Cantlay was mercilessly mocked by European fans over his refusal to wear a cap
The American steadfastly denied rumours he did not wear a Team USA cap over to a pay dispute with the PGA of America
But that did not stop European fans waving caps in front of him throughout Sunday
It may come as a nasty surprise to the people who run golf but we are not living in the 1950s anymore. Sure, people were twirling their hats this weekend as if they were in a Pathe newsreel of the White Horse Final but only to mock Cantlay.
And guess what, footballers get paid to play in the FA Cup these days. The argument against paying players prize-money to play the Ryder Cup seems to boil down to the fact that it is such an honour to play for the USA and Europe it is an insult to ask for any sort of financial remuneration.
To do that would be to sully the sacred spirit of one of the greatest sporting events in the calendar. Really? Other events seem to survive despite the horror of paying players. Prize-money, bonuses and appearance fees are routinely available for footballers at the men’s and women’s World Cups.
The men’s players have been donating their match fees to charity for some time but that is their choice. They are paid first. England’s women got paid to play in the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand this summer, too.
Not enough, perhaps, but that’s another story. Yes, I know the world’s leading golfers are not exactly on the bread line.
That is not the point. I just don’t understand why asking to be paid to play in an event awash with corporate acquisitiveness should make you public enemy No 1.
Why should playing for your country in the Ryder Cup disqualify you from earning money? Why is the idea of paying golfers to play in it anathema to so many people? All that is happening here is that the organisations that make the most money from the Ryder Cup are weaponising its history so they can avoid paying players.
If it is an insult for players to be paid to play the Ryder Cup, if it goes against patriotism and pride and the Corinthian spirit, then surely we should be castigating the PGA of America and Ryder Cup Europe for their vulgarity in making an estimated £85m from the competition every two years.
Sponsors were prominent throughout Ryder Cup and clearly visible around the course
I wonder what would happen if we asked those organisations to give away the broadcasting rights to the Ryder Cup for free because it went against the spirit of the tournament to sully it with demands for money from television companies?
We all know the answer to that. It is OK for corporate organisations to rake it in from the Ryder Cup but not the players? Is that how it works? It sounds awfully patrician.
The PGA of America does allocate £165,000 for USA players to give to a charity of their choice. You give the child some pocket money but tell him you don’t trust him to spend it himself.
Let me say it again. The Ryder Cup is one of the greatest sports events on the calendar. It is a joy to be able to report on it. But it is also worth mentioning that you can barely move for sponsors at the competition.
The Ryder Cup is forecast to generate more than £445million in revenue this year, but players receive only a small allowance to allocate to a charity of their choice
And I mean that literally. The Ryder Cup has what it calls ‘a commercial family’, which makes it sound very wholesome and nurturing. It’s a biggish family. It includes AON, BMW, Citi, DP World, Hilton and Rolex.
When it comes to the cash, the Ryder Cup likes to keep it in the family. Go to the back of the green at any of the holes at Marco Simone Golf & Country Club and the ‘family’ names are displayed on strategically placed backdrops.
If you inadvertently stand in front of one of the ‘family’ logos, obscuring it from the view of the cameras, you are swiftly and politely advised of your error and asked to find another vantage point.
That’s OK. It’s the way modern sport is. And in modern professional sport, especially at events that rake in £85m, however magical and mystical and honourable and noble they are, players should get paid.
Djokovic brings Rome joy and class
Last Friday morning, I followed the Ryder Cup foursomes match that pitted Ludvig Aberg and Viktor Hovland against Brian Harman and Max Homa. Among the others who tracked the group as they played was Novak Djokovic, who has a strong claim to being the greatest active sportsman in the world.
Djokovic often gets a bad press so it is worth recording that he brought almost as much joy to the spectators as the golfers. He posed for every selfie that was asked of him — and there were a lot — he bumped fists with every outstretched hand – and there were a lot – and waved back at everyone who called his name.
Small things, maybe, but not to the people who Djokovic treated with such easy respect. He exuded class.
Novak Djokovic was a prominent guest at the Ryder Cup on Friday
LaCava picked on the wrong player
Joe LaCava, Patrick Cantlay’s caddy, picked on the wrong player when he tried to unsettle and intimidate Rory McIlroy by behaving like an idiot on the 18th green at the Ryder Cup at the end of a Saturday evening fourballs match.
LaCava acted like a hooligan on the 18th and McIlroy was so incensed that not only was he caught on camera yelling at another caddie in the players’ car park later that night, but he also played his best golf of the weekend in the Sunday singles when he breezed past Sam Burns.
It was a joy to see McIlroy excel at a Ryder Cup and lift himself higher in the list of all-time greats to have played in the competition. He is still the best player to watch. It can only be a matter of time until he adds to his four major triumphs.