Xander Schauffele's Dad Claims U.S. Threatened To Kick Son Off Ryder Cup Team Over Netflix, Contract Drama
Xander Schauffele is the No. 6 ranked player in the world and earned an automatic qualifying spot on the U.S. Ryder Cup team, but according to his father, he was nearly booted from the team just weeks before the event over a dispute involving Netflix of all things.
Two weeks before the start of the Ryder Cup in Rome it was widely reported that Netflix would not be given full access to the U.S. team room to capture footage for the upcoming season of 'Full Swing.' On the surface, it seemed like no big deal, as it was understandable that the U.S. team didn't want any sort of distraction.
According to Schauffele's father, Stefan, there's a significant layer to the story.
The elder Schauffele has gone on record with The Times explaining that both Schauffele and his good friend and teammate Patrick Cantlay both wanted amendments made to a player participation and benefit agreement contract put together by the PGA of America - the governing body that runs the U.S. side of the Ryder Cup - before the event began.
Xander Schauffele was nearly kicked off the Ryder Cup team, according to his father. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/PGA of America/PGA of America via Getty Images)
One of the amendments reportedly included denying Netflix cameras into the U.S. locker room.
Xander Schauffele's Dad Explains
“It was very late in the schedule right before the team came here to practice because they (PGA of America) 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," Stefan told The Times.
“Saturday morning of Labor Day weekend, 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.”
Stefan's claims just add more fuel to the drama-stirred fire that's ignited around this U.S. team.
During the week it was reported that Cantlay had decided to go hatless during the event as a form of protest towards the PGA of America not directly paying players to participate in the Ryder Cup.
Cantlay also didn't wear a hat during the 2021 Ryder Cup.
Throughout the week the message from the U.S. team was that it was as close a team as there has ever been at the Ryder Cup. But as more rumors and reports build about a potential divide, it's hard not to call those 'kumbaya' messages naive, at best.
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