Laurie Canter ‘hugely grateful’ for DP World Tour platform ahead of PLAYERS debut

By Mathieu Wood

In an ever-evolving sport, Laurie Canter has admitted that stability in his own career, built through the solid platform of regular tournament golf on the DP World Tour, has led him to his debut this week in THE PLAYERS on the PGA TOUR.

A self-confessed “late bloomer”, the Englishman has enjoyed a stellar start to the year, during which he won his second DP World Tour title in Bahrain, and finished runner-up and third en route to topping the International Swing ranking.

As a result, he arrives at TPC Sawgrass on a high and in the knowledge his outlook on what he can achieve in the game has enjoyed a huge transformation.

“Ultimately, I feel hugely grateful and lucky that I get a chance to go and play THE PLAYERS,” he said.

“It’s been a bit of a bumpy ride, certainly the last 18 months, two years of my career.

“I haven't really had a solid place to play until May last year when I won [at the European Open] and that obviously opened doors to be able to plan a schedule again.

“I have really found that benefit of being able to do that and have that solid schedule in front of me, that I can hopefully build a successful second part of my career, if you like.

“Having the opportunity to do that, and to be in a tournament like THE PLAYERS, when I'm kind of reflecting on where I was a year ago, I just feel really grateful, really lucky.

“I genuinely feel those things and am excited about teeing it up with the best players in the world.”

With no event this week on the 2025 Race to Dubai schedule, World Number 43 Canter is one of 30 DP World Tour members preparing to tee it up in the shadow of the PGA TOUR’s HQ at Ponte Vedra.

It was less than a year ago that Canter was ranked outside the top 200 on the Official World Golf Ranking and in danger of losing his full playing privileges on the DP World Tour at the end of the 2023 season.

However, solid performances on the DP World Tour have seen the 35-year-old move rapidly up the rankings and he is now hoping THE PLAYERS will be the first of many doors he will come to open for the first time over the coming weeks and months.

“It’s probably not right to go in and say I am ready to go and win the tournament,” Canter added in an interview with the DP World Tour from his home in England last week.

“They are things that kind of unfold. I feel really excited about going to play. My game is in a good spot.”

And in long-time friend Eddie Pepperell, who finished joint-third at THE PLAYERS in 2019, Canter will likely be well versed on what to expect from the challenge.

“I guess everyone sees golf and how to play things a little bit differently, but there's always commonality in people who've been successful,” he said.

“They’ll leave a clue in how they've prepared or certain shots they've felt they've been comfortable with that week.”

However much of a scoop on Sawgrass he has been able to gain, Canter is unlikely to be lacking in confidence.

He only missed out on winning the Investec South African Open Championship earlier this month in a play-off to Dylan Naidoo after the final round in Durban was cancelled due to a flooded course.

Since prior to the Hero Dubai Desert Classic – where he was in the mix for a Rolex Series win before finishing solo third at Emirates Golf Club – he has climbed more than 80 places in the Official World Golf Ranking in less than a three-month stretch.

He attributes much of that in part to being part of Great Britain & Ireland’s winning side at the Team Cup in January.

“Being completely honest, I didn't really know what to expect because you hear things about team golf and when people talk about it you wonder if that's a bit of poetic bluster, but I loved it,” he explained.

“It’s not a stretch to say I felt it had created a new level of enthusiasm for golf. That, to be honest, was a bit of a surprise for me because we’re so used to doing the same kind of thing.

“Speaking to people afterwards who were looking at me in that environment, they kind of noticed that too, just how much I enjoyed it.

“I would say that's been a huge springboard for the following weeks really, emboldening me to feel the way I do about the game and then obviously playing well as well.”

As a result, he finds himself on the cusp of making his Masters debut next month, with the top 50 on the OWGR on March 30 earning a prized invitation to Augusta National.

With just a few weeks to go until that cut-off deadline, Canter admits it is tough to not think about the potential for another milestone in his career at men’s golf’s first Major of the season.

“That’s the tournament that I am absolutely desperate to play,” he said. “I’d do anything, really. It’s been hard not to look ahead.

“Knowing where I am in the rankings and how much flux there is around the top 50 from various weeks and given the PGA TOUR had a big week [at the Arnold Palmer Invitational] and this week, my best shot to get to Augusta is to just focus exclusively on Sawgrass, prepare well and play as well as I can.”

But to solely limit his rise to prominence to recent months is a disservice to Canter.

After finishing tied 17th at the Amgen Irish Open last season, he arrived at Wentworth Club for the BMW PGA Championship full of optimism for another big week on a big stage, before the birth of his second child with wife Anna led to his late withdrawal.

After a few weeks off he returned to action at the FedEx Open de France, and fell just short of securing dual membership on the PGA TOUR via the ten cards available to the leading players not otherwise exempt on the Race to Dubai Rankings.

“I had a few weeks off the tour and then it was kind of a bit hard to get momentum afterwards,” he reflected

“I played really quite solid again in Abu Dhabi, Dubai (the DP World Tour Play-Offs), but without getting that big result so I felt like my game was really good.

“I felt quite frustrated, to be honest, that I hadn't managed to do well enough to get one of the cards last year for the PGA TOUR.

“So, I kind of came into January knowing that I was kind of close to playing well, but I hadn't shown it.”

But he is now beginning to fulfil on a potential that has never been in doubt.

Part of England’s winning side at the 2010 European Amateur Team Championship, alongside the likes of Tommy Fleetwood, Tom Lewis and Pepperell, Canter was expected to make a quick impact on entering the paid ranks a year later.

However, after coming through the Qualifying School in 2015, 2016 and 2017, it wasn’t until the Covid-affected 2020 campaign that he, in his own words, made his breakthrough.

“I am probably on the spectrum of professionals who benefited almost the most from Covid,” he said.

“I had a Q-School card and had got off to a pretty slow start and then all of a sudden we had this situation where I was almost given a free year and a half to play golf.

“They kind of closed shop on the tour for a year because the opportunities weren’t there for the guys. That for a player like me meant I was getting into almost every event and could plan and slightly relax.

“At that point in time I was sort of desperate to push on and get results, that it perhaps got in my way a bit.

“In 2020-21 I was moving towards potentially these sort of results. I guess what it has shown over the last year of consistent steady play, putting in a couple of big weeks with wins, it is great that I feel like I have been able to achieve things that then can have a material impact on where I play and the opportunities you get.

“For me, at this point in my career and life this is what I want to do. I’m 35, I’m not a spring chicken… hopefully I can establish myself and learn quickly from being at a different level and a different place.”

Such has been his start to the season, Canter is hoping he can continue to shine bright on the DP World Tour, while exposing himself to opportunities stateside where possible, including at next month’s Zurich Classic of New Orleans, where he hopes to line up alongside countryman Jordan Smith.

But, even with his fine form, he believes he needs to make further strides if he is to play at this year’s Ryder Cup at Bethpage.

“My guess would be Luke Donald is going to want to have 12 people on the team who've had good experience playing in America or have played Ryder Cups in America,” said Canter, who is currently ranked ninth in the European Team Rankings.

“That would be my gut feel. I guess he's also going to want people in form, playing well and confident.

“We're a long way out from September, but I feel like where I am, the opportunities I have could put myself in his plans.

“I wouldn't even class the Ryder Cup at this point as a goal to be honest, because I'd see that as such a long way down the line and ultimately I feel like I'll need a really good summer’s golf and hopefully to put myself in contention to win at a few events that hold the most points and most weighting.”

But from admitting to “stumbling over the line” to his win in Germany last year, to winning a play-off in Bahrain last month, Canter feels as ready as he can be to perform in new surroundings.

So, with that in mind, there will be a fair few eyes watching how Canter fares this week. But, based on his own progress, there is every reason to think he will thrive.