The ex-LIV golfer on the brink of a PGA Tour card

A former LIV golfer who came back and won on the DP World Tour now has a chance of winning a PGA Tour card.

Welcome to the intriguing world of Laurie Canter.

The Englishman has arguably had the most unique journey in professional golf in recent times, which also gives him one of the game’s most unique perspectives.

The 34-year-old from Bath has been on both sides of a divide that has engulfed the sport for three years and is candid about his experiences across what some still perceive as ‘enemy lines’.

After a breakthrough season in Europe, Canter is now gearing up for the season-ending DP World Tour playoffs in the Middle East – and he has a very big goal in mind…

The American dream

The Race to Dubai is very much the ‘Race to the PGA Tour’ for some players these days. The DP World Tour’s controversial ’10 Cards Initiative’ has enabled the best golfers not already exempt to earn playing rights on the American circuit. Canter has certainly been one of those in 2024.

He is currently down in 18th on the standings having hovered around the top ten for much of the season, but lost ground in the race for good reason. He skipped the BMW PGA Championship and then the Dunhill Links, the week his daughter was born.

“She arrived very healthily in the en suite bathtub – say no more,” he tells bunkered.co.uk from his home in the south-west of England.

Canter is now feeling refreshed and practicing hard. He knows two strong weeks could give him a fighting chance of winning one of the golden tickets.

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“Its just a phenomenal opportunity,” he says. “You could talk to death about the ins and outs of whether it’s a good thing for the tour but the fact is ten guys will go and get what I’m going to a call a free run at the PGA Tour.

“It’s just unbelievable. That sort of thing has never happened before for players in Europe.

“Speaking absolutely honestly, someone like me who has just had a second child – I’m 35 next week so I’m not a spring chicken now – I would probably view it slightly differently, but I’d still love to have that opportunity.

“At the same time, I’m not going to relocate my family out there and chase that. It’s not something I want to do at this point in my life but I’d love to play the events. If the opportunity came up for me I’d love it.”

But what about the PGA Tour’s ban?

It turns out there’s a catch.

Even if Canter does earn a PGA Tour card, he will be banned from the opening events of 2025. Having made his last LIV start as a reserve in Las Vegas in February, he was informed that, despite never previously owning a tour card, he must now serve a 12-month suspension from all PGA Tour-sanctioned events.

“I got sent a letter in the middle of the year,” he says. “The PGA Tour clarified the position I was in, which was that I was unable to play for a year from the last LIV event I played in which was Vegas. I replied saying, ‘Thank you for clarifying that. I think your policy is absurd’.

“And I do think it’s absurd. I’ve never been a member of that tour. How can you ban someone who has never played on your tour? I would understand it if I was a member of their tour but in my context I don’t understand it.

“I am a golfer so I’m pro opportunity but it’s a bizarre way of sanctioning someone.”

The LIV experience

Just 12 months ago, Canter had a putt from five feet that would have changed his life significantly. He was playing LIV’s Promotions event at Abu Dhabi Golf Club and was destined to win one of three full-time spots on the circuit for 2024. The putt was worth a £1.5million bonus but, in reality, a whole lot more.

He missed, then found the water on the next hole to miss out in a playoff.

So does he ever look back and think, what if?

“I only think about it like three or four times a day,” he laughs. “If you’re going to get any good at golf, you’ve got to get really good at dealing with disappointment. That was a hard one to take. My chips were all in with playing LIV at that time. That’s all I wanted to do. I got super close to getting it.”

Canter has played 19 times on the Saudi-funded circuit since featuring in the breakaway’s inaugural event in 2022 and has no regrets if he has reached the end of the road.

“I did really enjoy playing LIV,” he says. “I understand it’s fractious but my feeling is there is room for something like LIV. I like national Opens, historic events, they need to be preserved and made bigger. But I do think there’s room for something a bit different.

“I was lucky. I was on a team with legends I grew up with. [Henrik] Stenson, [Lee] Westwood and [Ian] Poulter were my teammates for quite a few events. All three guys gave me their time. My experience was great. I definitely benefitted from playing with those guys. I played with Phil Mickelson four times. That’s absolutely bonkers. I feel very lucky I was able to do it.”

Canter won’t play in the LIV Promotions Event this time around as it clashes with one of his favourite tournaments, the Alfred Dunhill Championship at Leopard Creek. He is also reluctant to face any further sanctions from the DP World Tour.

“I was part of the appeal case [last year] and we lost the appeal. Since then, in the position I was in, I was happy to accept that and say I’m going to be a member. We’ve been through a process with it and the tribunal set a precedent for what happened. I’ve just wanted to move on and get back to playing.”

And Canter has flourished, having settled all his outstanding sanctions with the tour. After so many near-misses, he won his first title at the European Open in June.

“My dream was to become a winner on the European Tour,” he says. “That was a huge thing to me. You don’t know what’s around the corner in golf. You’ve got to be world class at being resilient just to stay on the tour. The satisfaction I got from winning was enormous.”

What about a DP World Tour and LIV merger?

The apparent reticence of American players to ditch home comforts has left many pondering whether a collaborative worldwide global tour is actually feasible. Other than Billy Horschel, the top stars Stateside continue to show little interest in supporting events across the Atlantic.

“The hard cold facts are that if you want to watch the best players in the world play golf outside America,” says Canter, “you basically have one chance: The Open. The other three majors are in America. It’s such a small window for people to watch world class golf outside America. It’s actually incredible it’s been allowed to happen for so long.

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“I’m sure the DP World Tour gets talked down on the PGA Tour by those who have frankly never played it. There are much different challenges. The guys had to go from playing a tournament in Spain to Korea the next week. They have to nail a lot of things around travel recovery, which I think is being part of an all-rounded golfer. Transitioning from Oregon to Florida might be difficult, but when you start talking about 12-hour time changes it’s a different thing.

“LIV and the DP World Tour are the genuine worldwide tours now.”

It has been suggested by some in the industry that one of the options for the DP World Tour is to ditch its “one-sided” Strategic Alliance with the PGA Tour and team up with the Saudis, creating a lucrative global schedule that many fans have longed for.

“With LIV and the DP World Tour, it feels like there should be a natural synergy,” Canter says. “There might be a different guise in the tours but, fundamentally, the markets they’re going after are similar. Some of the things LIV requires and needs, the European Tour has in spades. LIV has access to players and a world-class investor behind them. If you got those two things together, it would be exciting.”

However, Canter is also realistic about the danger of alienating professional golf’s biggest market.

“Without some PGA Tour collaboration or understanding… I don’t know what solves – those two entities trying to win on their own,” Canter says. “I would be in the camp that all the tours need to work together.”

The uncomfortable Sergio Garcia truth

There is every chance Canter could be reunited with one of his former LIV colleagues in Europe next season.

Sergio Garcia has informed Luke Donald that he is considering re-applying for his DP World Tour membership in order to revive his Ryder Cup hopes for 2025.

Many maintain Garcia burned bridges when he left for LIV and there is the potential for hostility if the Spaniard does return. Canter, however, is firmly in the former Masters champ’s corner.

“He’s played 11 Ryder Cups and he’s our record points-scorer. I hope we bend over backwards for him when he decides to come back. Having him come to some of the events would be great. We can argue about his reputation but he’s still loved and known by lots of people around the world.

“The other thing that doesn’t get said enough about Sergio – the uncomfortable truth, perhaps – is how good he still is at golf. He came third on the LIV order of merit. He could easily play more Ryder Cups.

“My view would be that if Sergio Garcia wants to come and play on the DP World Tour a little bit, that would be great.”

Ben Parsons joined bunkered as a Content Producer in 2023 and is the man to come to for all of the latest news, across both the professional and amateur games. Formerly of The Mirror and Press Association, he is a member at Halifax Golf Club and is a long-suffering fan of both Manchester United and the Wales rugby team.