LIV Golf Sub Laurie Canter Explains Why the Current Golf Landscape Is a ‘Shame’ for European Fans

Laurie Canter is currently playing on LIV Golf’s Majesticks GC alongside Ian Poulter, Lee Westwood and Henrik Stenson as a substitute for an injured Sam Horsfield, the regular fourth member of the team. But next week, the 33-year-old Englishman will do something a bit different: Canter is teeing it up in a DP World Tour event.

For any other LIV golfer, such a move would seem unlikely, but Canter’s position in the field at the ISPS Handa World Invitational in Northern Ireland is feasible.

The Englishman has already settled his LIV-related DP World Tour fines, and, since he’s not a full member on the Tour anymore, he can’t be penalized for playing in an event that he is eligible for. Plus, Horsfield looks to be healthy again, so Canter’s LIV spot might be in jeopardy.

“I’m not going out of choice, just because I wanted to play more, get some ranking points. I settled up the fines from last year. And because I fell out of Category 10 [DP World Tour status], I didn’t retain my full card, and I’m effectively not being fined for playing this year,” Canter said.

Utilizing all of his options for places to play will be key for Canter’s immediate future, especially as the “framework agreement” between the PGA Tour and the Saudi Public Investment Fund takes shape—or doesn’t—over the next year.

If Canter could have it his way he said he’d rather play on LIV, but he’d still like to build on his Official World Golf Ranking. For that reason, Canter would like to see play between multiple tours become a realistic possibility. The Englishman thinks such an arrangement would not only be better for players but fans, too.

“I think it’s sad that at the moment people can’t draft in and out,” he said. “That would be a better system for everyone including fans if people could do a bit of everything.”

It’s not just the dynamic between LIV and the PGA Tour that’s posing that problem, though. According to Canter, global golf has been steadily weakening over the past few years, and it stems from the relationship between the DP World Tour (formerly European Tour) and the PGA Tour.

“I still think the [DP World Tour] holds a lot of historical value,” he said. “I think what has happened is the PGA Tour has become a lot stronger, because it’s more competitive to stay in. There was a time when European players could come and play that minimum event and still do well and keep their card. But I think they’re too many good players on the PGA Tour for that to happen, so the European guys all of a sudden had to drop the events they played in Europe and play in the States, which undoubtedly has made the fields weaker, outside of those massive events like the Scottish Open.”

Canter recognizes the value of the DP World Tour’s long-standing events such as its esteemed national opens, and he hopes that for the sake of competitive golf, they don’t get totally tossed aside as the landscape continues to change.

Canter’s sentiment is driven by his player perspective, but he’s also particularly concerned about how the predicament is impacting European fans and European golf in general.

“I look at what’s happened as a shame for European golf fans,” he said. “I do think if you’re really being honest, you’re not going to see the best players in the world playing unless it’s the Open, maybe the Scottish Open. Not just in the U.K., but in Europe. I find that insane.

“If you want to watch the best players in the world play golf, you can literally go to one or two tournaments a year, back-to-back weeks. You’re never really going to watch the top 10 in the world play golf outside of America, which I think is terrible for golf. That would be my only thought, that it’s not so much the European Tour losing value, it’s losing the ability to get the best players to play a bit more outside of America.

“Now there’s more pressure on those guys to play more full time in America, to keep their FedEx Cup points going, keep their world rankings up. I get it on their part. But golf in a world sense I think is a bit weaker.”

Canter’s best finish on LIV this season came at the Orlando event, where he tied for 11th place. At last month’s British Open he finished T-17 alongside Xander Schauffele and Alex Fitzpatrick.