THE MODERATOR: Patrick Cantlay is with us now at the 2025 Ryder Cup. Patrick, welcome to your third Ryder Cup. How has the week been so far?
PATRICK CANTLAY: Yeah, it's been good. Hopefully the rain stays away. We've had some nice weather the last couple days. The course looks really good. It's nice to be up here at a golf course I really like, and it should be a great event.
Q. How does what happened two years ago carry over, and is there a sense of redemption? 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?
PATRICK CANTLAY: Yeah, I think anytime you're at home in these things they feel different than when you're away. I obviously don't have too much experience. I've only played one of each. It's hard to really draw comparisons when you have such a small sample size.
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, so I think everyone is really excited about playing their best golf in front of them and going out and winning as many points as possible.
Q. Do you feel you've got to make up for something, given what happened in Rome?
PATRICK CANTLAY: No, I think every time you show up to these events, you feel pressure to perform. It's such an honor representing your country, and we get to do it so seldomly in our sport that it's such a privilege to be on the team, and you just want to perform at your highest because of what an honor it is to represent the USA.
Q. Touching on the fans, you were obviously on the receiving end of the European fans in Rome and there's been a lot of discussion about how raucous the New York sports fans can be. How do you think that will elevate Team USA, or is there a risk it will fuel tensions too much and emotions will run too high?
PATRICK CANTLAY: Yeah, I'm not sure. We'll have to wait and see. Like I said, the New York fans are fantastic, so I know for myself and the rest of my teammates, we're excited about playing in front of them and showing off for them.
I think it's going to be an added benefit for our team with how loud it can be and what a great environment we're going to be able to get to play in. I'm looking forward to it.
Q. 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?
PATRICK CANTLAY: It should be great. I think it's going to be a very iconic sporting event in one of the biggest sporting cities in the world, and the fact that it's a team event and we're out there wearing the red, white and blue is going to be fantastic.
Q. I just have two unrelated. One is regarding Ryder Cup captains. You've had a couple experiences here. How much of a difference can a captain make? How much of a difference can Keegan potentially make this week with the vibe he creates, the moves he makes, et cetera, and same thing on the other side with Donald?
PATRICK CANTLAY: Yeah, Keegan is so passionate, authentically passionate about this event and about being captain and doing the best possible job he can. It's a real pleasure to be on the team with him leading because it's easy to buy in because you know that there's buy-in from the top.
Keegan has just been fantastic so far. I know I speak for the rest of 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 into doing the best job as captain.
Q. Unrelated, with regard to Bryson, you don't see him very often. Obviously you've had your head-to-heads with him before. What kind of a teammate has he been and how explosive can he be for you this week?
PATRICK CANTLAY: Yeah, we've played on a few team events together, Presidents Cups and Whistling Straits Ryder Cup. He's great in team events. I was watching him hit drivers on the range the other day, and I'm glad he's on our side. He's a showman out there. I think he's going to get the crowd fired up. It's really great anytime he's on these teams because he's such a fantastic player.
Q. You were kind of targeted by the European fans in Rome; you dealt with it extremely well. Do you carry any bitterness at all from that experience?
PATRICK CANTLAY: No, I think the fans being so passionate and tribal this week has become such an integral part of this event. It's just to be expected at this point.
I think it makes the event fun.
Q. Obviously there was an obsession with your headgear at the last tournament, last competition. You're wearing a hat today. Is there a message in that?
PATRICK CANTLAY: No, not at all. Like I've said a million times, the hat didn't fit last year, and this year we worked with them to make sure we had one, and we got one, so we're good.
Q. Does it get any easier handling the nerve factor, having done a couple of these previously? And do you do anything differently?
PATRICK CANTLAY: I think anytime you play in these events you get a little more comfortable each and every time. But that doesn't mean there's not nerves out there. I'd say that goes for everyone. These events are just really special weeks. There's such an interesting component to me in that when you're playing a four-round tournament, it's stroke play, so it feels a little like a marathon. There's only one final round. There's only one back nine.
But in these events, if you were to play three or four matches, you could have three back nines, four back nines. Each match feels like a final result because you have to win a point in that 18 holes.
I think that brings out a little more drama, a little more adrenaline because every time you're finishing your round, it's like a final round. I think it's one of the cool things about this event and match play as well.
Q. You were obviously central in the conversation in Rome about the American team being paid, and now there is a pot of money which is being given to you to do whatever you want to do with. What are your thoughts on that, and maybe you could tell us what you're going to do with that portion of the money?
PATRICK CANTLAY: Yeah, I think one of the great things about these team events for me is there's always such a big charitable component to it, and so I'm going to donate the money to my charity. We work with a number of foundations. We work with First Responders Children's Foundation and we work with the SCPGA Junior Tour and we've work with St. Jude and Folds of Honor, and so I'm excited about our continued partnership with those organizations.
They do such fantastic work, and a lot of their work really -- a lot of their work is really important to me. I grew up playing Southern California junior golf on that SCPGA Junior Tour. My parents would drive me to events on the weekends, and if I was lucky I'd get to skip school on Friday to play a practice round.
That's where I learned to love to play competitive golf. If I can give back to organizations that have helped make me who I am today, hopefully someone growing up in Southern California gets that opportunity and can follow their dreams as well.
Q. Did you make any representations to the PGA of America about --
PATRICK CANTLAY: Oh, no. I was a late addition captain's pick, so that's PGA of America's decision, and I know they worked together with Keegan.
Q. You've been asked a million times about Rome. I'm curious, did any part of you enjoy getting to be the heel in kind of that event, the wrestling term the heel? Like the person who just got all that attention, and you frankly answered it that day? After the fallout, that's what the attention was, but how proud of yourself were you that day, the way you played, the way you responded in that moment?
PATRICK CANTLAY: 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 win points and put points on the board, then I've done my job. Everything else is just noise to me.
This week we're playing for something bigger than ourselves. We're playing for our team. We're playing for our country. The little part I can play by putting as many points on the board as possible, that's where 100 percent of my focus is.
Q. There's been a narrative in the weeks leading up to it that because one team gets a stipend and the other doesn't that it means more to Europe than it does to the U.S. What is your reaction or response to that?
PATRICK CANTLAY: Yeah, I think the U.S. guys are 100 percent focused on playing the best possible golf they can. I know we've had tons of meetings and tons of prep has gone into putting our players in the best possible spot to succeed, and I know 100 percent of their focus is on playing the best possible golf they can, and I know it means a great deal to them to show up this week and perform.
Q. Do you find that offensive?
PATRICK CANTLAY: What do I find --
Q. Just the feeling, when you hear that this means more to Europe? Do you get offended by that?
PATRICK CANTLAY: I think this event is very good at generating lots of noise, and that's not going to help any of us put points on the board. I think we need to put 100 percent of our focus on playing the best golf we can and let the noise be exactly what it is, just noise.
Q. Yourself, Xander and Keegan, you all said you're going to donate it to charity. Do you think there's a case for just having the whole $500,000 going to charity or do you like having the choice?
PATRICK CANTLAY: Like I said before, I wasn't a part of that decision-making process. I don't think any of the team members were. I can only speak for what my plans are.
FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports