Ben Griffin shares what Patrick Cantlay has been doing ‘behind closed doors’ at the Ryder Cup which people won’t realize

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Patrick Cantlay was a controversial figure at the 2023 Ryder Cup.

“Hatgate” made headlines in Rome, as fans saw Patrick Cantlay opting not to wear a hat as a protest to Team USA’s players not being paid for their participation at the Ryder Cup. Cantlay is wearing a hat this year, for what it’s worth.

Rory McIlroy had an altercation with Cantlay’s caddie, Joe LaCava, as he felt LaCava overcelebrated on the green as McIlroy lined up his putt. He said LaCava “used to be a nice guy when he was caddying for Tiger … and now he’s caddying for that d— [Cantlay],” to Justin Thomas’ caddie afterwards.

But Cantlay has been an undisputedly brilliant Ryder Cup player for Team USA. He has a 5-2-1 record over two tournaments. And Ben Griffin says what Cantlay has been doing behind the scenes shows what kind of teammate he is. 

Ben Griffin says Patrick Cantlay would do ‘anything’ for every Team USA member

There is an air of aloofness to Cantlay on the PGA Tour. He’s not prone to showing emotion on the course like some of his more theatrical opponents.

But according to Ryder Cup rookie Griffin, there’s a totally different side to the American when playing in a team. He said Cantlay is completely bought into Team USA.

He explained: “In this team format, it’s just really cool to pull for each and every guy on the team. Everyone is just closer because of it. A guy like Patrick Cantlay, he’s going to go about his business on a normal PGA Tour week. A week like this, I’ve gotten to know Patrick way more. 

“It’s really cool to see him buy into this full team format, and he’ll do anything and everything for every single guy on this team, and that’s what’s so cool and not seen because it’s behind closed doors.

“It’s really cool to see how close this team really is, and you know, I didn’t know what a Ryder Cup was really like.

“Even at the start of this year or two years ago I don’t know what previous teams were like. I don’t know what other captaincies were like but seeing it right now, I mean, it’s truly indescribable how kind of close we are kind of getting and how much time we spend with each other.

“We are on our own schedules a little bit in terms of, like, working out and physio and sleep. But I tell you, we are together all the time and it’s been really cool, and it’s memories that I’ll be able to have all the rest of my life.”

Despite being a rookie to the Ryder Cup, Griffin seems well-integrated in Keegan Bradley’s team. Griffin has a good relationship with Scottie Scheffler, for example. That’s a good sign for a player who lacks experience in a team environment.

Ben Griffin admits that the Ryder Cup is his first team event since 2018

Not only is the Ryder Cup a new experience for Griffin, but he’s also been a stranger to team-on-team events for the last seven years. He said that the last time he played in one was the 2018 Aruba Cup.

He spoke glowingly about his Ryder Cup experience, saying: “Yeah, this has been one of the coolest weeks ever, and it’s one that I have not really experienced since the Wyndham Cup AJGA event in junior golf, where I was competing against Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns representing the west side of the Mississippi, and I was representing the east side. 

“My teammates would have been Davis Riley, Doug Ghim, I believe — Illinois — I have to look at a map. A lot of PGA Tour players played in that and that’s the last time I experienced a true team-against-team event.

“Actually, I take that back. When I was on the Canadian Tour, the Mackenzie tour at the time, it was the last year they called what they called the Aruba Cup and we ended up doing it in Cozumel or Cancun where the top players in Canada played the top 12 guys who finished on the Money List — or maybe it was top 10 — from the Latin America Tour.

“That was seven years ago, end of the summer of 2018. So I haven’t had that much experience, at least in the last seven years, other than playing in the Zurich Classic if I felt like I had a team, even though it was a small team with Andrew this past year.”

Griffin won the Zurich Classic alongside Andrew Novak this year, proving his ability to play in team events to Bradley.

He continued: “But it’s been really cool, again, like learning from other guys and just being together with guys who all have the same common goal. Like, sure, every week on tour you have a common goal of trying to win the tournament but you’re not working together to win that tournament. 

“You’re working individually to win that tournament and beat the guy you’re talking to. So in this team format, it’s just really cool to pull for each and every guy on the team. Everyone is just closer because of it.”

No matter the result in New York, this is clearly an experience that Griffin will treasure forever.