DP World Tour star on LIV Golf controversy: ‘I didn’t have a problem with it’
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The players that defected to LIV Golf were heavily criticized as Saudi Arabia faced charges of sportswashing from the masses. Laurie Canter, though, wants to know where you draw the line
It was something of an ongoing joke when players first started joining LIV Golf.
Players’ reasons for defecting to the startup tour ranged from a desire to spend more time with the family, to wanting to play less golf, to being excited by a new team format, and our old friend “grow the game”.
Just say you’re going for the millions of dollars, we cried. And, to be fair, some did. But there was another problem. No one was happy with where the money was coming from. The main criticism levied at the players was Saudi Arabia’s complicity with alleged sportswashing as the country’s human rights record continued to be under the microscope.
And while the world wondered why the likes of Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson needed more money, particularly given the source, for many it was a chance to significantly increase their career earnings without anywhere near the level of grind required on the traditional tours. It just required a small shift into the blind spot for the moral compass.
One of those was Laurie Canter.
Not that it was in anyone’s mind at that point.
“The range chatter was we couldn’t believe someone was going to be paid $4 million for playing three rounds of golf at Centurion,” he joked during a recent appearance on the Sliced podcast.
The Englishman had spent the first decade of his professional career in the second and third tiers as he tried to make the step up to the DP World Tour. Indeed, Canter reached the big leagues through Q School on not one but four separate occasions. The last of which, in 2019, just after his 30th birthday proved to be the breakthrough he needed.
But after two and a half years and around $1.5 million banked on the European circuit, LIV Golf proved to be too tempting.
Canter joined as a reserve and played all eight events of the league’s inaugural season, teeing up alongside Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood for Majesticks GC – Henrik Stenson was still the Ryder Cup captain at this point – before moving over to Martin Kaymer’s Cleeks for the remainder of the campaign.
Canter remained a Cleek for the first three events of 2023, in place of his injured captain, before returning to the Majesticks for seven events after Sam Horsfield went under the knife.
He then played the first two events of 2024 as a wildcard, before being replaced by Anthony Kim following the American’s much-fanfared return to the sport.
Now, though, with almost $6 million in the bank in two years as a LIV golfer, Canter is back on the DP World Tour – where he has picked up two wins. Does he regret his decision to take the money – particularly knowing where it comes from?
“It’s a tricky question,” he explained. “I have a family member who works in foreign international development, works within women’s rights and a lot of these sort of things. I like to think I’m a thoughtful person around this sort of stuff. Ultimately, I’d always come down on the job we do.
“If you sign up to be a golfer, certainly on the DP World Tour, you go all over the world, to lots of different regions, lots of different laws, cultures, religions.
“Fundamentally, if you’re going to play professional golf you have to separate those two things for your own sense of being able to do the job.
“And if you really dug down into it there are so many places we go that I would be uncomfortable around some of the laws.
“The week before the first LIV event in London, we were in America and in a state that just banned abortions. The Supreme Court was repealing Roe vs Wade. Would I align myself with that? Probably not. That’s the most developed country in the world and the biggest market for golf in the world.
“Where you choose to draw that line is difficult.
“And so to answer your question in a straight way, no, I didn’t have a problem with it because I really see that as kind of part of the territory in our job.
“I think sport is overwhelmingly positive and does shine a light on a lot of stuff. I didn’t really give it a second thought to be honest. I always look at something in terms of, selfishly, will it be good for my career and having an opportunity to play for that amount of money with those sort of players?
“And that’s where I landed.”
LIV is, for now, a part of Canter’s past and next in his sights is the Ryder Cup.
Canter played on Justin Rose’s victorious GB&I side in the Team Cup in January, earning three from a possible four points along the way.
“Luke [Donald] asked me if I could play after the DP World Tour Final and I wasn’t expecting to get asked,” he said. “We can speculate as to why, but I just felt like I [was] probably not going to make that team. But he rung me and asked me, said, ‘I’d love you to play.’ I absolutely loved that environment.
“It definitely triggered something within me, like a passion or enjoyment of the game that I haven’t felt, to be honest, probably since I was an amateur.
“I had Jose Maria [Olazabal] fill up my water bottle one time, which I was like, ‘What’s going on here?’ These kind of pinch me moments. I felt completely invigorated and it challenged a few things within what I do with my own game. I loved being in that environment.”
As for Bethpage, Canter is remaining fully grounded.
“I still feel like I’d need a really good summer playing in Europe to put myself in those plans to be honest,” Canter explained.
There’s a long way to go, but he is very much in the mix.
You can listen to the full Laurie Canter interview on Sliced, a golf podcast presented by Ben Coley and Sam Harrop.
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Laurie Canter spent the majority of his time on LIV Golf with Ian Poulter and Lee Westwood's Majesticks
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Laurie Canter started his LIV Golf career at Centurion in London
