MOVING ON UP

Laurie Canter has been through an awful lot over the past few years. Here, he tells Sam De'Ath about his remarkable journey from LIV Golf to the world's top 50....

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It’s been an eventful few years for Laurie Canter. The Englishman tied for 2nd in the 2021 BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, but less than a year later he was playing on the LIV Golf tour as part of the initial wave of professionals to move over. In 2023, he lost his full-time status and played as a reserve for Martin Kaymer’s Cleeks GC and also for Majesticks GC. At that year’s Promotions event, he lost in a playoff and was left without a LIV roster spot for the 2024 season.

However, he was able to take up a last-minute spot in the DP World Tour’s Mauritius Open in December 2023 and finished 2nd. Since then, he hasn't really looked back. In June 2024, he ended a 13-year wait for a DPWT title at the European Open and he finished 24th on that year’s Race to Dubai rankings.

His second DPWT victory came in February's Bahrain Championship, one of three top-threes on the circuit this season. He is third on the Race to Dubai at the time of writing and his stellar early-season form propelled him inside the world’s top 50 for the first time ahead of the Players Championship. As a result, he received a ticket to Sawgrass and a much-coveted invite to The Masters in April, where he missed the cut on his debut.

Here, the Englishman talks about his decision to move to LIV, his career resurgence, what it was like competing at Augusta for the first time and whether the Ryder Cup is on his radar...

You obviously had an unbelievable start to 2025, getting inside the world’s top 50 and playing your first Masters. Sitting as a reserve on the LIV tour two years ago, could you have believed you'd be in this position now?