certain Anthony Kim<\/a>, but says time spent in close quarters with short game masters like Phil Mickelson and Cam Smith proved invaluable too.<\/p>\n\u201cLIV really accelerated my learning, but probably took a lot of that pressure I was feeling off,\u201d he says. \u201cI had that period and it was almost like I was able to discover stuff about my game that I hadn\u2019t before.\u201d<\/p>\n
Indeed, when he returned to the DP World Tour and LIV cleared considerable fines on his behalf for playing in their events, Canter played the best golf of his life. He won the European Open in June 2024 and then the Bahrain Championship in March last year. <\/p>\n
The results catapulted Canter into both The Players Championship and The Masters. He missed the cut in both but is proud to have ticked off two \u201cbucket list\u201d items. \u201cIt\u2019s an unbelievable experience,\u201d he says. \u201cTwo poor results, but experience-wise amazing.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve always felt so lucky to play professional golf since 2011, even when I was playing on the EuroPro and the Sunshine Tours. Even those experiences \u2013 I wasn\u2019t earning a living \u2013 but I had amazing fun and I felt lucky to be there. My caddie this year at Augusta \u2013 we played on mini tours together \u2013 wrote me a note for the first round, basically saying, \u2018You\u2019ve come from mini tours to playing at Augusta. That\u2019s a hard thing to do.\u2019 It was a pinch myself moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/canter_augusts.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Canter admits he was \u201cpaddling upstream\u201d as his game deserted him for months after the Masters, but returned to form in time to finish seventh in the Race to Dubai standings, closing his season at Dubai\u2019s DP World Tour Championship by earning the second of 10 available PGA Tour cards. In becoming the first former LIV player to earn his ticket Stateside, Canter highlighted a new path across the fractious terrain.<\/p>\n
But it was only after his final putt dropped at the Earth Course in November that Canter sat down to listen to a concrete offer from LIV.<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew early in the season there was a little bit of [LIV] contact, but I was pretty clear that it\u2019s a very distracting thing to have,\u201d he says. \u201cI didn\u2019t want any of that on me. My focus was the DP World Tour, doing as well as I can and then, if I played well enough to get my PGA Tour card, I could consider my options.\u201d<\/p>\n
Canter moved with his young family from Surrey to the Middle East last year. In the weeks since joining LIV for the second time, he has spoken at length about why he ultimately decided to reject the American dream. \u201cSince I\u2019ve had a family, my thinking has to go beyond me as a golfer,\u201d he insists. \u201cWe\u2019re already in an innately very selfish sport. I think when you have kids, that selfishness has to extend from yourself to your immediate family.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be honest, I live in Dubai, and my kids and my family are really happy, and I\u2019m happy. Not that going to the US necessarily upsets the apple cart, but I wouldn\u2019t be able to do that with the age my kids are without probably living in America, and I don\u2019t think that\u2019s something that, at the moment, I would consider doing.\u00a0It\u2019s different. It doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s not a fantastic place to play, because it clearly is.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a fantastic tour but unfortunately, for people who don\u2019t live in America, it\u2019s exclusively based in America, whereas LIV and the DP World Tour are genuine worldwide tours. LIV especially, with the 14 events, goes to America which the DP World Tour doesn\u2019t have, and then goes to every territory in the world to play golf. For someone like me who lives in Dubai, it\u2019s perfect.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Majesticks, meanwhile, see Canter as a serious coup. \u201cObviously he fell off LIV but went back to the European Tour and he\u2019s really showed some resilience and robustness and changed his game round,\u201d co-captain Westwood told TG recently in Florida. <\/p>\n
It should be stressed that Canter has sacrificed playing on the PGA Tour, not in Europe with this decision. His plan is to emulate Tom McKibbin, the Northern Irish youngster who managed 11 DP World Tour starts on his debut LIV season in 2025. He has already secured his place in this year\u2019s PGA Championship and in The Open at Royal Birkdale.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d love to play and have a decent schedule,\u201d he says. \u201cI think I\u2019ve probably capped myself out at about 26, 27 events for the year, and I\u2019m going to play a couple of International Series events [on the Asian Tour]. If I play six or seven and then if I did well enough in those and the majors to have a shot at getting into the [playoffs] at the end of the year, then that\u2019d be awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/canter_swing.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Canter\u2019s jaunts back to the DP World Tour will this time come at a rather hefty cost. LIV are no longer subsiding fines so Canter may need to pay upwards of \u00a31million to remain a member. Since this interview, a spokesperson at Wentworth HQ told TG the tour \u201ccontinues to have dialogue with individual members involved to explore and discuss options\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that\u2019s something you\u2019ve got to probably take stock of regularly, because it\u2019s a big financial penalty,\u201d Canter admits. \u201cBeyond the fine, it\u2019s maybe the message the fine sends. That\u2019ll be something I guess I consider as the year goes on. I would like to remain a member. I don\u2019t know how viable that is long-term with that kind of penalty, but we\u2019ll see.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf DJ [Dustin Johnson] comes and plays [at the Dubai Desert Classic] as a LIV player, he\u2019s not a member of the tour, but he\u2019s obviously been invited by the event and he\u2019s a fantastic draw in golf to come and watch play golf. So if I\u2019m looking at a guy like him and I\u2019m a regular member, I may be struggling to square that circle. So I think the clarity is just something that would maybe benefit the members of the tour.\u201d<\/p>\n
Canter\u2019s biggest priority in the meantime will be making up some ground in the LIV standings. He has returned to the league as a more formidable threat and said before the season-opener in Riyadh he had a point to prove. A tie for 37th followed by his 53rd in Adelaide to start the 2026 season have so far belied the undeniable progress he has made across all aspects of his game.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve got a great opportunity now with the setup I have and the people helping me,\u201d he said. \u201cI need to hopefully keep some doors open and try and keep myself involved in the world rankings. But I\u2019m excited. It\u2019s really up to me to take care of all the other stuff and take advantage.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Laurie Canter reflects on his decision to rejoin LIV Golf \u2013 and what the move means for his…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":482918,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[443],"tags":[49,48,622,82],"class_list":["post-482917","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-golf","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/482917","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=482917"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/482917\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/482918"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=482917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=482917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=482917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}