To Liv and Back: Laurie Canter ‘Lucky’ to write history with players

Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. – Three years ago it would have been difficult to imagine that PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan shook the hand of Laurie Canter and the former Liv golfer handed a box of cuff from player championships.

Canter, one of the founders of Liv Golf, became the first former member of the Breakaway Circuit that was eligible for the flagship event of the PGA Tour when he broke in the top 50 in the official World Golf Ranking earlier this month. But Canter does not see his TPC Sawgrass Tee -time as a groundbreaking moment in the broken world of Golf. It’s just how things fell into place for him. Golf Serendipity.

“No, I don’t feel like a pioneer,” Canter said a smile on Wednesday morning. “I am lucky that I was not a member of the PGA Tour. If I had been, I couldn’t be here. The fact that I didn’t have my PGA Tour card and the position I needed [to miss a year of PGA Tour golf after your final LIV start] – So no, I would certainly not use that term. ‘

Canter has no bad feelings for Liv Golf. The 35-year-old Englishman admits that he has become a member of the rebel circuit for the financial stability it offered. He played in the first event because it was 25 miles of his house and fitted for the entire season for the cleans before he lost his place. He served as an alternative in 2023 and lost in a play -Off at the LIV Promotions event in 2023. He was early in 2024 a LIV -Wildcard before he was replaced by Anthony Kim.

Then Canter used his temporary status to return to the DP World Tour. He won the European Open last June and then at the Bapco Energies Bahrain championship. Those victories pushed him near the top 50 in the world, and a suddenly the deadplay -off loss in South Africa hit his ticket to TPC Sawgrass. Now he will forever be the answer to a niche golf trivia question.

“I mean, to Liv came, people did not intend to do that,” Canter said about his path. “So it’s not like it was a plan in my head when I grew up, necessarily. To characterize it a bit, it is a kind of path that has been opened for me and something that I wanted to pursue and do. I feel happy and grateful that I have the opportunities I have had and to find a way to play in events such as this one. That’s a bit where I would be with it. It has not been orthodox or, in that respect, it has not been because of design. It’s just how it worked for me with the opportunities that stood in front of me. “

Canter, who is not yet a PGA Tour member, arrives at the flagship event, just like the negotiations between the PGA Tour and the Saudi Aarabic Public Investment Fund (PIF) seem to be sharpening about what Monahan considered “obstacles” during his address on Tuesday. He has received playful punctures from some players in the dressing room during his time at LIV, but is not entangled in the fuss. Asked if he thought it would be wise for the PGA Tour to create a path for LIV players to return, Canter played it safely and chose to save his risky shots for the famous 17th hole.

“I’m not a PGA Tour member,” said Canter. “I can’t really answer that. It’s not fair. I don’t want to speak for the members. I have the feeling on the DP World Tour, where I am a member, it has improved a number of events that come to play a few of those boys. I think if that was something that the PGA Tour looked at, if they looked at Dubai or potential when Jon Rahm came and plays the Spanish open, things like that could be something they would think of. But I can’t speak of the PGA Tour. I am not even a member. I am grateful that I have the chance I have. ‘

Although there is no member yet, Canter is hopeful that a PGA Tour card is in its very near future.

“I think everyone who plays Golf would do that [like to be a PGA Tour member]”Said Canter. “You look at the event this week, last week I looked and a kind of where those characteristic events go, I mean, if you can engineer, play well enough for where you have your world ranking where you have characteristic events and majors – what a year is a golfer to play those locations with those golfers for that amount of money. It’s incredible. “