Xander Schauffele was looked at as a key member of the U.S. Ryder Cup team before play got underway at Marco Simone where the Americans ultimately endured a 16.5 to 11.5 defeat. But, according to his father Stefan Schauffele, he was almost pulled as a team member as Schauffele butted heads with the PGA of America over its player agreement for the Ryder Cup, according to The Times.
Schauffele, along with his good friend Patrick Cantlay, requested amendments be made to the player agreement, one of which included shutting off access to Netflix in the team locker room. The issue was shot up the pipeline to captain Zach Johnson and the rest of the U.S. team unanimously voted to deny cameras in the team space.
“The PGA of America were not willing to even talk to us about [the amendments],” Stefan Schauffele told The Times. “It was very late in the schedule right before the team came here [to Rome] to practice because they had moved the deadline and they said, ‘If you don’t sign it by then, you’re off the team’, but they never gave us the contact information of their legal counsel.
“Saturday morning of Labor Day weekend [Sept. 2], finally, the head of the PGA of America got wind of this, because it was not him that was blocking it, and put our lawyers in contact with the PGA of America’s general counsel, and then it took a few hours to hash it out and it was fine. Then I received a message that Xander was back on the team. That you can quote. That’s the extent of this and I think it’s shameful.”
The elder Schauffele’s claim comes days after a reported fraction among the U.S. team led by Cantlay, who allegedly believed he should be compensated to play in the Ryder Cup. Cantlay denied the allegation countless times over the weekend as he was peppered at every turn regarding his hat-less nature.
“It’s totally false,” Cantlay said Sunday. “It couldn’t be further from the truth. There hasn’t been one word of that all week. The U.S. team has been close all week.”
The other amendments in question are likely to be financially driven as the elder Schauffele was far from finished discussing the matter.
“If the PGA of America is a for-profit organization, they need to have the players share in that profit instead of being so damned intransparent about it with intent,” Stefan Schauffele told No Laying Up. “They should reveal the numbers, and then we should go to the table and talk. Alternatively, they can donate all proceeds after opening the books to a charity of our joint choice, and then we will happily play for free. Please print that.”