🇺🇸 Patrick Cantlay on Ryder Cup Pressure, New York Fans & Playing for Team USA ⛳🔥

Patrick Cantlay addressed the media ahead of his third Ryder Cup, reflecting on lessons from Rome and the pride of representing Team USA on home soil. Calm and measured, Cantlay dismissed talk of “redemption,” insisting that every Ryder Cup brings pressure and honor in equal measure: “The best way I can help is to go out and win points. Everything else is just noise to me.”

He praised captain Keegan Bradley’s passion and leadership, spoke about the energy New York fans will bring, and emphasized the importance of giving back—pledging his stipend to charities like St. Jude, Folds of Honor, and the SCPGA Junior Tour that shaped his early career. Cantlay also acknowledged Bryson DeChambeau’s explosive presence and shrugged off lingering narratives about Europe wanting it more. For Cantlay, the focus is crystal clear: perform, win points, and bring the Ryder Cup back home.

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Patrick Kentlay is with us now at the 2025 RDER Cup. Patrick, welcome to your third RDER Cup. How has the week been so far? Yeah, it’s been good. Um hopefully the rain stays away. We’ve had some nice weather the last couple days. Uh the course looks really good and uh it’s nice to be up here at a golf course I really like. Um and should be a great event. Great. Thanks. We’ll take some questions starting up here on mic 14. Hey Patrick, how does uh what happened two years ago carry over uh and is there a sense of kind of redemption? And then the other part of that is is there a different feeling this year from what happened two years ago as opposed to when you went to Rome coming off a decisive win? Yeah, I think anytime you’re at home in these things, they feel different than when you’re away. Uh I obviously don’t have too much experience. Um, I’ve only played one of each, so um, it’s hard to really draw comparisons when you have such a small sample size. Uh, but I think it’s going to be great this week playing in front of the New York fans. They have a reputation for being fantastic. And so I think everyone’s really excited about, you know, playing their best golf in front of them and going out and winning as many points as possible. But do do you do you feel this you got to make up for something having what happened in Rome? No, I think every time you you show up to these events, uh you know, you you feel pressure to perform. Um it’s such an honor representing your country and we get to do it, uh you know, so seldomly in our sport that uh you know, it’s a it just it’s such a privilege to be on the team and and you just want to perform at your your highest because of what an honor it is to represent the USA. Thanks. over here on Mike Gate. Hi Patrick. Um, touching on the fans, you are obviously on the receiving end of the European fans in Rome and there’s been a lot of discussion about how rockous the New York sports fans can be. How do you think that will elevate Team USA or is there a risk that it might actually fuel tensions too much and emotions will run too high? Yeah, I’m not sure. We’ll have to wait and see. Like I said, the New York fans are fantastic and so I know uh for myself and the rest of my teammates, we’re excited about playing off in front playing playing in front of them and uh showing off for them. So, uh you know, I think it’s going to be uh an added benefit for our team uh with how loud it can be and what a great environment we’re going to be able to get to play in. So, uh I’m looking forward to it. And just to follow up, obviously the president will also be in attendance. How do you think that’s going to impact the atmosphere and the crowds here? It should be great. Um, you know, I think it’s going to be a very iconic sporting event um in one of the, you know, biggest sporting cities in the world and the fact that it’s a team event and we’re out there, you know, wearing the red, white, and blue, it’s going to be fantastic. Over here in front, Mark. Hey, Patrick. I just have two unrelated. One is regarding Router Cup captains. You’ve had a couple experiences here. Um, how much of a difference can a captain make? Like how much of a difference can Keegan potentially make this week with the vibe he creates, the movies he makes, etc. And same thing on the other side with with Donald beat either way. Yeah, Keegan’s so passionate and authentically passionate about this event and about being captain and and doing the best possible job he can. And so it’s a real pleasure to be on a team with him leading because it’s easy to buy in because you know that there’s buyin from the top. And so, uh, Keegan’s just been fantastic so far and, uh, I know I speak for the rest of our our team saying that he’s doing everything he possibly can to put us in a position to succeed. And we’re grateful to him and how much time and effort he’s put in to doing the best job as captain. And unrelated, uh, with regard to Bryson, you don’t see him very often. Obviously, you’ve had your headto-heads with him before. Um, what kind of a teammate in your eyes has he been and and how explosive can be he be for you this week? Yeah, we played we’ve played on a few team events together, President’s Cups and uh, you know, Whistling Straits Rider Cup. He’s he’s great in team events and uh, you know, I was watching him hit Drivers on the Range the other day and I’m glad he’s on our side. Uh, you know, he’s a a showman out there. I think he’s going to get the crowd fired up and um you know it’s it’s really great anytime he’s on these teams because he’s such a fantastic player. Let’s go in the middle here. Mike 13. Patrick, you were um you were kind of targeted by the European fans in in Rome. I mean, you dealt with it extremely well, but do you carry any bitterness at all from from that experience? No, I think uh the fans being so passionate and tribal uh this week is, you know, has become uh such a integral part of this event. You know, it’s just to be expected at this point and uh I think it I think it makes uh makes the event fun. And just um a quick followup, you’re obviously there was um an obsession with your headgear um at the last tournament, last competition. You’re wearing a hat um today. Is there a message in that? No, not at all. Uh, like I’ve said a million times, uh, you know, the the hat didn’t fit last year and, uh, this year, uh, we worked with them to make sure we had one and we got one, so we’re good. And on six. Hi, Patrick. Does it get any easier handling the nerve factor having done a couple of these previously? And do you do anything differently? I think anytime you play in these events, um, you get a little more comfortable each and every time, but that doesn’t mean there’s not nerves out there. And I’d say that goes for for everyone. Um, you know, these events are just really special weeks and there’s such a interesting component to me in that when you’re playing a four round tournament, it’s stroke play. And so it feels a little like a marathon. Uh, there’s only one final round. there’s only one back nine. But in these events, if you were to play, you know, three or four matches, you could have three back nines, four back nines, you know, each match feels like a a final result because you have to win a point in that 18 holes. And so I think that brings out a little more drama, a little more um adrenaline because every time you’re finishing your round, it’s a it’s like a final round. And um you know I think it’s it’s one of the cool things about this event and and match play as well. Let’s go up top here to Mike 20. Hey Patrick back here. Um you’re obviously centering the conversation in Rome about the American team being paid and now there is a pot of money which has been given to you to to do whatever you want to do with. Just wonder what your thoughts are on that and maybe you could tell us what you’re going to do with that portion of the of the money. Yeah, I think one of the great things about these team events for me is um you know there’s always such a big charitable component to it and so uh I’m going to donate the money uh to my charity and uh we work with a number of foundations um we work with first responders children’s foundation and we work with the SCPGA Junior Tour and we’ve worked with uh St. Jude and Folds of Honor. And so I’m excited about our continued partnership with uh those organizations. They do such fantastic work and a lot of their work uh you know really uh you know a lot of their work is really important to me. Um you know I grew up playing uh Southern California Junior Golf on the SCPJ Junior Tour. my parents would drive me to events uh on the weekends and uh if I was lucky I’d get to skip school on Friday to play a practice round and that’s where I love to or I learned to love to play competitive golf and so if I can give back uh to organizations that have helped you know make me who I am today uh hopefully someone growing up in Southern California gets that opportunity and and you know can follow their dreams as well. I’m wondering did you make any representations to the PJ of America about did you make any representations yourself to the PJ of America about Oh no. Um you know I was a late addition captain’s pick. So uh you know that’s that’s the PJ of America’s decision and I know they work together with uh Keegan. Over to Brendan on five. Hey Patrick. Uh, I mean, like you said, you’ve been asked a million times about Rome, and I’m just curious, did any part of you enjoy getting to be the heel, you know, kind of in that event, the wrestling term, the heel. Um, like the the person who just got all that attention, then you frankly answered it that day. Like did did that after the fallout that’s what the attention was but like did you how proud of you yourself were you that that day the way you played the way you responded in that moment? Yeah. When I play these team events I feel like first and foremost I’m representing my country and my teammates and the best way I can help is to go out and win points for them. So if I go out and and win points and put points on the board uh then I’ve done my job. Everything else is just noise to me. Uh this week I’m we’re playing for something bigger than ourselves. We’re playing for our team. We’re playing for our country. And uh the little part I can play by putting as many points on the board as possible. That’s where 100% of my focus is. Doug Pat, there’s been a narrative in the weeks leading up to it that because one team gets a stipen and the other doesn’t, that it means more to Europe than it does to the US. What is your reaction response to that? Yeah, I think uh the US guys are 100% focused on playing the best possible golf they can. I know we’ve had tons of meetings and and tons of prep has gone into putting our players in the best possible spot to succeed and um I know 100% of their focus is on playing the best possible golf they can. Um and I know it it means a great deal to them to show up this week and perform. Do you find that offensive? Which what do I find? Just the the feeling when you when you hear that this means more to Europe. Do you do you get offended by that? I think uh this event is very good at generating lots of noise and uh that’s not going to help uh any of us put points on the board. I think we need to put 100% of our focus on playing the best golf we can and uh let the noise be exactly what it is is just noise. Got time for one more. Mike 12. Yeah. Hi Patrick. I just asked about the stipend again because yourself, Xander and Keegan all very nobly said you’re all you’re going to donate it to charity. Do you think there’s a case for just having it the whole 500,000 automatically going to charity or do you like to have the choice? Like I said before uh you know I wasn’t a part of that decision-m process. I don’t think any of the the team members uh were and so I can only speak for you know what my plans are. Great. Thanks for your time, Patrick. We appreciate it. All right. Thank you.