The 2024 Presidents Cup sees Jim Furyk’s Team USA take on Mike Weir’s International Team at Royal Montreal Golf Club in Canada, where the country is looking to extend its number of wins at the match to 13 from 15 editions.
To help with that ambition, Furyk is turning to eight of the 12 players who appeared for Team USA in the Ryder Cup at Marco Simone a year ago, including the player who was shrouded in a controversy during the match that became known as HatGate.
Back then Patrick Cantlay was reported to have led a split in a ‘fractured’ US Ryder Cup team over player payments. Cantlay didn't wear a hat during the match, which was supposedly a means of "demonstrating his frustration" that the team was not being paid for its appearance – something that is also the case at the Presidents Cup.
Eventually, Cantlay dismissed the report as “complete lies” and “totally unfounded.” He also explained that, far from a protest, he didn’t wear the hat because it wasn’t the right size, saying: “It just doesn’t fit. It’s as simple as that. I didn’t wear it at Whistling Straits because the hat just doesn’t fit so that’s really all it is.”
Regardless, the incident became one of the enduring memories of the contest, particularly after tensions boiled over when Cantlay’s caddie Joe LaCava waved his hat to celebrate a crucial putt of Cantlay’s in the Saturday afternoon four ball session, an action that displeased Rory McIlroy, who was lining up a big putt of his own.
Given Cantlay’s involvement in the Presidents Cup, it was perhaps inevitable the subject would be raised, and sure enough, in his press conference ahead of the match, Furyk was asked how he had persuaded Cantlay to wear a hat this week.
His lighthearted answer seemed to add weight to the 32-year-old’s explanation that his Ryder Cup hat simply wasn’t a good fit.
Furyk joked: “We finally had one that had that odd of a shape that it would actually fit on there,” before adding: “I think a lot of it's our vendors. He wore a hat two years ago in Charlotte. We had the same vendors on the PGA Tour, and he seems to be comfortable.”
The 54-year-old then insisted that whether any of his players wear hats or not this week, it won’t bother him, with the focus on ensuring they are comfortable. “If my guys are comfortable in hats, they can wear hats," he added. "If they're not comfortable in hats, it doesn't matter.
“It doesn't work out too well for me, I'll just say. My head will turn purple after a day, but I want them comfortable. I think we would both say that the clothing this year, my guys love it.”
Whether or not HatGate was a distraction, the US lost to Europe 16.5-11.5 in the Ryder Cup, meaning it has now only won three of 11 editions since the turn of the century, and Furyk tried to pinpoint why it sometimes struggles in that match, but enjoys such a dominant Presidents Cup record.
He said: “I think a lot of it is our team room looks different in both events. I think the guys put a lot of pressure on themselves. They try a little too hard. They push in the Ryder Cup. They want to prove everyone wrong, and sometimes maybe when you try too hard, you kind of get in your own way. I think in this event we play a little bit more loose, we play a little more free.”
