Multiple Stories Appearing To Be False About Patrick Cantlay's Hat At The Ryder Cup Out Shined The Golf Played In Rome, And That's A Shame

The 2023 Ryder Cup won't be remembered as the one where the Europeans made history by going unbeaten on Friday. We won't look back on it as the one where Rory McIlroy was the leading point-getter or the seventh straight won by the Europeans on their home soil.

The 2023 Ryder Cup will be known as 'The One About The Hat.'

With the Europeans holding a 6.5-1.5 point advantage heading into Saturday there couldn't have been less drama at Marco Simone. The U.S. Team was lifeless, and while digging itself into an even deeper, seven-point hole after Saturday morning's foursomes session, a report about Patrick Cantlay not wearing a hat became the talk of the golf world.

Jamie Weir of Sky Sports - who loves reminding everyone he's a Big J journalist - created the drama by reporting that the U.S. team room was "fractured" while claiming Patrick Cantlay was playing without a hat on as some form of protest about players not being paid in the Ryder Cup. He also claimed Cantlay didn't attend the gala dinner earlier in the week.

Weir conveniently left out the fact that Cantlay didn't wear a hat during the 2021 Ryder Cup while also ignoring photo evidence of Cantlay at the gala.

Twitter/jamiecweir

Cantlay simply said he couldn't find a team hat that fits his head, hence going hatless in Rome and two years ago at Whistling Straits as well. Every member of the U.S. team who was asked about the divided locker room denied the report.

Nevertheless, Cantlay not wearing a hat immediately became the story of the 2023 Ryder Cup. The NBC broadcast mentioned the report a countless number of times and European fans on-site began waving their hats at Cantlay every chance they could during Saturday's afternoon session.

Cantlay's caddie, Joe LaCava, even got in on the action by waving his hat at the crowd after Cantlay sunk a lengthy match-winning putt on the 18th green. McIlroy didn't appreciate LaCava's antics in the moment, and was still heated while leaving Marco Simone Saturday evening.

Not One, But Two False Reports At The Ryder Cup

Early Sunday morning NBC reported that LaCava reached out to McIlroy via text saying "love you guys, I have nothing but respect. NBC also reported that the two met before the action began on Sunday and made amends. ESPN and plenty of others ran with the story that the two had met.

The only problem is the report was completely inaccurate, the meeting never happened.

McIlroy was asked about the alleged meeting just minutes after winning his match over Sam Burns on Sunday and said "I haven't met Joe." ESPN quickly changed its story and headline to reflect that McIlroy denied the report.

Rory McIlroy denied that he met with Joe LaCava amid 'hat gate' at the Ryder Cup. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)

But what about the report about Cantlay and his non-existent hat? After all, that was the root cause of all of this.

According to Cantlay himself, the story was completely false.

"It's totally false. It couldn't be further from the truth. There hasn't been one word of that all week. The US team has been close all week," Cantlay said after beating Justin Rose on Sunday.

“Not a shred of truth in the article that just one journalist wrote. It's crazy that one journalist can put a tweet out there totally unfounded with complete lies."

We're Talking About A Hat Instead Of Golf?

Weir's only other comment after making the Ryder Cup's headline story about a hat has been a post on X, formerly Twitter, stating that Cantlay's agent refused to confirm or deny to him that he believes players should be paid to play in the Ryder Cup.

Patrick Cantlay going hatless was the story of the 2023 Ryder Cup. (Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)

At the end of the day, we'll never know if Cantlay had any sort of motives behind his decision not to wear a hat. He'd never admit that it was a sign of protest about not being paid, because that would make him look and sound like an adult child.

Regardless of the hat or anything that may or may not have occurred in the U.S. team room, none of those things should ever matter. The only thing that should ever matter is the golf being played in on of of the greatest sporting events in the world.

Instead of talking about Europe's 16.5-11.5 win, the U.S. actually making it somewhat interesting on Sunday, why the Euros are so dominant on home soil, or even arguing about what the Americans failed at, we've instead been forced to talk about a grown man not wearing a hat and the media hysteria around it will cast a shadow on the 2023 Ryder Cup.

Follow Mark Harris on X @ItIsMarkHarris