Tag: Patrick Cantlay

Patrick Cantlay posts nine Sunday birdies, rallies to win Zozo Championship

Patrick Cantlay had nine birdies on Sunday and rallied past third-round leader Justin Thomas to claim the 2020 Zozo Championship at Sherwood.

Patrick Cantlay charged up the leaderboard on Sunday at the Zozo Championship and perhaps didn’t even realize he had vaulted into the lead.

Golf Channel’s on-course reporter Notah Begay was following Cantlay and his group and mentioned a couple times there’s a stretch on the back nine where there is not a scoreboard.

Maybe that was a good thing.

Cantlay had nine birdies in his stellar final round, including three in a row on Nos. 13-15. His 2 on the par-3 15th was almost a 1, as his tee shot was dead-on the flagstick. His ball almost went into the hole on the second bounce. He then drained a left-to-right 10-footer to get to 24 under.

His lead went to three after a bogey by third-round leader Justin Thomas on the 15th hole.

Cantlay bogeyed the 16th but parred 17 and 18 to post a final-round 65, and then he had to wait.

Zozo Championship: Leaderboard | Photo gallery

Thomas couldn’t keep pace. He parred all three par-5s on the back nine and bogeyed the par-3 15th after he plugged his ball in deep grass on the rocky face short of the green.

Jon Rahm, playing in the final group with Thomas, also made a run, taking the outright lead with a birdie at 11, but he then gave two back with bogeys on 12 and 13. He later made birdie on 16 to get to 22 under to get within a shot of Cantlay.

Rahm needed a birdie on 18 to force a playoff but his 19-footer on the last was wide right. Thomas then made a birdie to forge a T-2 finish with Rahm at 22 under.

Russell Henley, Cameron Smith, Bubba Watson and Ryan Palmer were T-4 at 19 under, four shots back.

Cantlay’s win at Sherwood is his third PGA Tour win and marks the third year in a row he’s won on Tour, following his 2019 Memorial and 2018 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open titles.

The PGA Tour heads to the Bermuda Championship next week, where Brendon Todd is the defending champion.

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Shootout expected at TPC Summerlin in final-round of Shriners

Eighteen players are within five shots of the lead and another 11 are six shots back heading into Sunday’s final round at TPC Summerlin.

LAS VEGAS – Handicapping the final round of the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open is one tough assignment.

Eighteen players are within five shots of the lead and another 11 are six shots back heading into Sunday’s final round at TPC Summerlin, where par isn’t your friend and red numbers are aplenty.

Players have been tearing up TPC Summerlin from Thursday’s start and the cut was 7-under 135 – the lowest 36-hole cut in a 72-hole event in Tour history. With little wind expected for the final round, scoring binges should more than likely continue across this desert layout.

Which necessitates one mental approach, many players said after Saturday’s third round: You have to put the pedal to the metal on this track to emerge from the stampede at the finish line.

“By the time I tee off tomorrow I’m sure (the lead) will be more than 20 under, so it’s going to be the same mentality tomorrow. I’ll be aggressive when I hit the ball in the fairway and get a wedge in my hand, and other than that I’ll stay patient and try and shot a good round like I did the first three two days,” Patrick Cantlay said.

Patrick Cantlay during round three of the 2020 Shriners Hospitals For Children Open at TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)

Cantlay, who won here in 2017 and finished runner-up in 2018 and 2019, and Martin Laird sit atop the crowded leaderboard at 20 under, with both shooting 6-under-par 65.

Four players sit two back at 18 under – Matthew Wolff (61), Wyndham Clark (65), Harman (67) and Austin Cook (67). Wolff, teeing off four hours before the leaders, made three eagles in a five-hole stretch and his 61 is the lowest round of the week.

“I put myself in a really good spot for the final day,” he said. “I’m pretty pleased with my ball striking and how everything has come together.”

At 17 under are Will Zalatoris (64) and Kevin Na (64), who is in a good spot to join Jim Furyk (1998-99) as the only players to win back-to-back Shriners.

“I figure 7 under, I got a chance to win,” Na said. “I need to make more putts. I made some good putts today, but I definitely left a few out there.”

Five players are at 16 under, including Adam Hadwin, who shot 62 on Saturday, and five more player are at 15 under.

And can you really dismiss reigning U.S. Open champion Bryson DeChambeau and all his firepower? DeChambeau made two double-bogeys and two bogeys in his first six holes but salvaged a 71 with six birdies in his last 11 holes. He’ll start the final round seven shots behind but he shot 62 in Thursday’s first round.

“It was really weird. I don’t know. It’s golf, right?” DeChambeau said. “You’re never going to play your best all the time, right? So I just felt like a couple things got off a little bit. Didn’t really hit bad shots, just didn’t go where I wanted to.

“Went into some really bad places. But I think I did a decent job of holding my head high and plugging forward. Just one of those days.

“Tomorrow’s a new day. You just keep plugging along.”

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No surprise here: Patrick Cantlay has the lead in the Shriners

In his three starts here, Cantlay won in 2017, finished runner-up to Bryson DeChambeau in 2018 and lost in a playoff to Kevin Na last year.

LAS VEGAS – Time and time again this gambling mecca proves there is no such thing as a lock.

Patrick Cantlay is putting that reality to the test.

Just as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, Cantlay is a certainty to contend in the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. In his only three starts in the tournament, Cantlay won in 2017, finished runner-up to Bryson DeChambeau in 2018 and lost in a playoff to Kevin Na last year.

He’s back in a familiar spot again after Friday’s second round – atop the leaderboard. After opening with a 63, Cantlay shot a 6-under-par 65 to move to 14 under on a day where there was only a whisper of wind and plenty of sunshine.

“Obviously with the success I’ve had it’s easy to be confident around here,” Cantlay said. “I just like the golf course. I think that it sets up for a lot of draw tee shots, and if you play from the fairway you have a lot opportunities.”

SHRINERS: Tee times, TV | Odds | Fantasy

Joining Cantlay at 14 under was Martin Laird, who eagled the final hole to cap an inward 6-under 29 en route to his 63. Two shots back among the early leaders were James Hahn (66), Nate Lashley (67) and Sergio Garcia (64), who won last week’s Sanderson Farms Championship.

Cantlay is in position to join some select company. In the past 60 years, only four players have finished first or second in four consecutive years in a tournament – Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson and Gary Player.

“That’s a good list,” Cantlay said. “That would be great (to join them). Every time I come here I feel like I have a chance to win. It doesn’t surprise me because I really like the golf course, but obviously I have to execute.

“I have so far, so I’m looking forward to the weekend.”

Cantlay has now played 14 rounds in the tournament at TPC Summerlin and has failed to break par just once. His career scoring average on this desert track is 66.28. And his competitors better beware – Cantlay’s scoring average in the third round is even lower at 65.33.

The No. 13 in the world is seeking his third PGA Tour titles. He is a perfect fit for TPC Summerlin as he hits the ball long and straight, is highly accurate with his irons and is a solid putter.

He also has the ideal mindset for the course.

“Around here you need to make so many birdies, and I’m just used to it out here,” said Cantlay, who made four consecutive red numbers around the turn. “It never feels like I’m stressing because it feels like there are so many birdie holes. It actually allows me to be patient.

“I started the day today I was even par through the first six holes and it feels like you’re way behind because you need to make so many birdies. But I knew there were plenty of opportunities the rest of the way, and I was able to capitalize coming down the last three or four holes.

“I’m in a good spot come the weekend.”

No surprise there.

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Looking for a lock in Las Vegas? Bet on Patrick Cantlay in the Shriners

In 12 rounds at TPC Summerlin, Cantlay has broken par 11 times. His career average on this desert course is 66.67.

LAS VEGAS – In this town, it’s as safe a bet as there is.

Take Patrick Cantlay to finish high at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.

In his only three starts in the tournament, Cantlay won in 2018, finished runner-up to Bryson DeChambeau in 2019 and lost in a playoff to Kevin Na last year.

In 12 rounds at TPC Summerlin, he’s broken par 11 times. His career average on this desert course is 66.67.

“It’s a golf course I really like,” Cantlay said Tuesday at TPC Summerlin ahead of Thursday’s start of the Shriners. “I think it’s good and it rewards a guy who drives the ball really straight. A lot of the tee shots look good to me here, so I do play from the fairway a lot around here. Some courses you play and you feel like you can make a bunch of birdies, you feel like there are a lot of birdies holes out there. For me out here it feels like almost every hole is a birdie hole. Feels like I have a lot of opportunities around this place, and I feel comfortable with the lines and everything.

“I have a lot of confidence here, so I’ve played well.”

TPC Summerlin could prove to be the perfect place for Cantlay to turn a rather dull year around. While he’s ranked No. 13 in the world, the two-time PGA Tour winner has only two top-10s in 12 starts. In his last six starts, his best finish was a tie for 12th in the BMW Championship.

It’s been a weird stat line for someone of his playing caliber. Then again, it’s been a weird year for Cantlay.

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“Felt like when I was gaining momentum something happened, you know?” Cantlay said. “I was feeling like I played OK on the West coast. I was just about to kind of really round into form.”

But then Cantlay had surgery to correct a deviated septum.

Then, when he felt he was ready to play some really good golf, COVID-19 shut down the world and the PGA Tour went on a 13-week break.

“Kind of took away all my momentum,” Cantlay said. “On the restart just took me a few events to get back into my old self. It’s just kind of a weird year. I think if it would’ve been a normal year without that big break that might not have been the case. But it was, and like I say, there is a bunch of tournaments this year that are still left before the new year.”

That includes this week’s Shriners, next week’s CJ Cup up the road at Shadow Creek, then the following week’s Zozo Championship at Sherwood north of Los Angeles. And of course, the Masters in November.

“I’m excited,” Cantlay said. “I’m really looking forward to them because my game feels good.”

Well, it always does at TPC Summerlin.

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Patrick Cantlay hits flagstick, ball rolls further away off green at U.S. Open

Patrick Cantlay had some pretty bad luck on Saturday during the third round of the 120th U.S. Open.

Golf is a brutal game. Especially during a U.S. Open at the famed Winged Foot Golf Club in Mamaroneck, New York.

But what did Patrick Cantlay do to deserve this?

During Saturday morning’s third round, the 28-year-old had a pitch shot to get on the green from just outside 20 yards. Cantlay, a two-time winner on the PGA Tour in search of his first major title, hit the flagstick and his ball took a massive kick right back at him, rolling down the slope a good 20 yards behind the spot from which he had hit his previous shot.

This is one of those shots you just have to see to believe.

U.S. Open: Leaderboard | Best photos

Cantlay proceded to get up-and-down for bogey, ultimately signing for a second consecutive 6-over 76 to walk off the course 12 over, 16 shots behind leader Patrick Reed who had yet to tee off.

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U.S. Open continues at Olympia Fields in BMW Championship

The second FedEx Cup playoff event is playing akin to a difficult U.S. Open, with thick rough, lightning fairways and firm, sloping greens.

OLYMPIA FIELDS, Ill. – Kevin Kisner hit a 350-yard 3-wood on the 17th hole in Friday’s second round of the BMW Championship, which, to be kind, is rather unusual for the player who lacks power and relies on grit and a solid putter.

“I still made bogey, though,” said Kisner, who wedged his second shot just over the green, chipped down the slope to 6 feet and missed the par putt.

That’s what Olympia Fields is dialing up this week for the 69 players remaining in the FedEx Cup Playoffs. This second playoff event is playing akin to a U.S. Open, a very difficult U.S. Open, mind you, as thick rough, lightning fairways, firm, sloping greens and heat from above have combined to deliver one of the most difficult exams these players have ever faced.

Exams that have everyone on edge.

BMW Championship: Leaderboard | Photos

“You’ve got to hit really quality golf shots and get lucky,” Kisner said. “That’s basically the tune to it. You’ve got to try to hit your number and then hope it does what you’re praying it does when it hits the ground.

“I think even par wins the golf tournament.”

Well, 1 under is leading the BMW Championship after 36 holes.

And only two players are at that red number – Rory McIlroy, who switched putters to his delight, and Patrick Cantlay, who chipped in twice to his delight. McIlroy added a 1-under-par 69 to his first round 70 while Cantlay came home with a 68 – tied for the lowest score on the day – to go with his 71 in the opening round.

“The golf course is really, really good, but it’s very, very difficult,” Cantlay said. “It’s about as stiff of a test as you would want. You have to play from the fairway, and you have to play from below the hole, frankly. The greens have so much slope on them that you really need to be putting uphill, and so if you’re in the rough, it gets exponentially harder to do that.”

You want hard? The last time 1 under led after 36 holes on the PGA Tour was in the 2014 World Golf Championships-Cadillac Championship at Doral (Patrick Reed went on to win with a score of 4 under).

You want harder? The last non-major won with an over-par score was the 1981 AT&T Byron Nelson by Bruce Lietzke at 1 over at Preston Trail in Texas. The last major won by an over-par score was the 2018 U.S. Open as Brooks Koepka won at Shinnicock Hills at 1 over.

At Olympia Fields, only eight players broke 70 in the second round – five more than broke 70 in the first round. Hideki Matsuyama is the only player to reach 4 under during the tournament.

Matsuyama and world No. 1 and FedEx Cup champion Dustin Johnson, who won last week with a score of 30 under in the Northern Trust, are at even par; Matsuyama shot 73, Johnson 69.

Five players are at 1 over – Adam Scott (69), Brendon Todd (68), Louis Oosthuizen (69), Tony Finau (71) and Billy Horschel (71). Three players are at 2 over – Kisner (70), Bubba Watson (70) and Mackenzie Hughes (73).

Tiger Woods (73-75) is nine shots back.

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“We’re not used to it on the PGA Tour, but I love these courses,” Horschel said. “What makes this course even tougher, though, is when you add this 15- to 20-mile-per-hour wind and you get these firm greens, when you’re coming in downwind it’s tough to stop the ball near the hole.

“I’ve always been a fan of 8- to 12-under par being a winning score of a tournament, and then with 1 under leading, some people might say, well, it’s not fair. It’s very fair, you’ve just got to execute the golf shots perfectly every time.”

McIlroy has been in a funk since the PGA Tour returned after a 13-week break due to COVID-19. After beginning his season with top-5 finishes in seven consecutive tournaments, including a victory in the World Golf Championships-HSBC Champions, he has posted zero top-10s in his last seven starts.

Last week at the Northern Trust, who talked openly and honestly about lacking motivation and focus and basically going through the motions.

Not a problem this week.

“I think the test is what’s helped me focus and concentrate because if you lose focus out there for one second it can really cost you around here,” McIlroy said. “One of the big keys this week is just not making big numbers. I’ve been making big numbers for the last few weeks, so if you hit it out of position, get it back in position, make sure that your worst score is a bogey and move on.

“Honestly bogeys aren’t that bad out here.”

And his driver – his No. 1 weapon – has been pretty good.

“I’ve driven the ball much better over the last couple of days, so that’s a huge key to my game. If I can drive the ball well, everything seems a bit easier from there,” McIlroy said. “And I felt a bit better with the putter. I put my old putter back in the bag. I felt a little more comfortable over the sort of inside 10-feet range, so that felt better. But overall everything was pretty good.”

Cantlay said the same of his present form. And he said patience is the 15th club in the bag that players have to rely on.

“You’ve got to realize that you’re going to make mistakes,” Cantlay said. “You’re going to make some bogeys just because of how hard the golf course is, and always having a forward mindset as opposed to thinking about what’s happened or what the mistakes you’ve made is really important.

“It’s just very, very difficult.”

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Same course, different tournament: PGA Tour players dish on round two at Muirfield Village

It’s the same course but a very different tournament as the PGA Tour tees it up for a second consecutive week at Muirfield Village.

DUBLIN, Ohio – Yogi Berra had it right, at least regarding back-to-back PGA Tour events at Muirfield Village Golf Club, where it is déjà vu all over again for Patrick Cantlay and Collin Morikawa.

Berra, who famously philosophized that “90 percent of putts that are short don’t go in,” would have fit right in with the confusion surrounding the who … won … where … when of Muirfield Village, host venue of this week’s Memorial Tournament and site of last week’s Workday Charity Open. Muirfield Village is the first course to host consecutive Tour events since 1957.

Cantlay, who won the 2019 Memorial by two shots over Adam Scott, returned to Muirfield last week not as defending champion but as part of the field teeing it up at the Workday event, which moves to San Francisco next year.

Morikawa, meanwhile, won Workday on Sunday and returns to Muirfield four days later not as a defending champion but simply one of 132 players aiming to win the 45th Memorial, which features nine of the top 10 players in the world.

Make sense? No worries, it puzzles players, too.

“It’s kind of a weird scenario being at the same tournament, or the same tournament site two weeks in a row,” said Cantlay, who is one of 89 players to play the Memorial after playing Workday. “I’m sure I’ll feel a little more like defending champion this week.”

Cantlay shot a final-round 64 on Sunday at Workday to match his winning score from a year ago at the Memorial, where he made up a four-shot deficit on the final day.

Memorial: Tee times | Odds, predictions, picks | Fantasy power rankings

“A nice rehearsal for next week,” he said. “Coming back on-site (last week) and seeing all the guys in the locker room and obviously being on the same golf course kind of reminded me of last year’s win.”

As for Morikawa, the 23-year-old rising star said it feels strange to return to the same course where he won four days ago, defeating Justin Thomas on the third playoff hole.

“It’s really weird,” he said, explaining it felt odd to remain in Dublin and not head to the next tour event. “But it almost helps me in a sense because say you won on Sunday and then you’re on a plane Monday morning. I didn’t have to get on a plane. I’m just staying in my hotel room relaxing and I can show up here. I know where everything is. I know what to do. I know the practice green, practice area, so everything is really familiar for me. So I think that helps me.”

Yet the course he just won on is not exactly the same course. It holds the same shape in terms of routing, but not in terms of playing conditions.

“This week is going to feel different, just with the elevated feel of the tournament and the course being back in that classic Memorial setup with the greens real fast,” Cantlay said.

If dry weather continues – don’t hold your breath; it is Memorial week after all – Muirfield should play firmer and faster than it does when contested in its traditional spot of late May and early June; the tournament was moved from June 4-7 to July 16-19 when the Tour was forced to rework the schedule because of the coronavirus pandemic.

The Memorial also will be staged without spectators due to COVID-19, just as Workday was last week, which almost certainly impacted player performance. Nowhere was that more evident than on the 18th green on Sunday, when on the first playoff hole Justin Thomas made a 50-foot birdie putt. Needing to make his 24-foot birdie putt to extend the playoff, Morikawa quickly and calmly drained it.

“If we had fans I think everything would have been a little different,” said Morikawa, who moved to No. 13 in the world with the win. “I would have had to almost wait another two minutes just to even hit that next putt because of the fans, just roars and everything and mumbles after making a 50-footer.”

Morikawa will need to contend with a powerhouse field that includes No. 1 Rory McIlroy, No. 2 Jon Rahm and No. 3 Justin Thomas, as well as Tiger Woods and Cantlay, who is ranked No. 10.

“I figured an extra week here at Muirfield Village was good for me, so I took it as a positive. I enjoyed it,” Cantlay said.

He’ll like it even more if he can successfully defend his title.

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Patrick Cantlay interview

Golfweek’s David Dusek chats with PGA Tour winner, Patrick Cantlay, about last year’s Memorial win, what he did in quarantine, more.

Golfweek’s David Dusek chats with PGA Tour winner, Patrick Cantlay, about last year’s Memorial win, what he did in quarantine, more.

Patrick Cantlay pleased with ‘rehearsal’ for Memorial title defense after Sunday 65

Patrick Cantlay warmed up for his title defense next week with a final-round 65 at Muirfield Village, one of his favorite courses on the PGA Tour.

If there were any questions whether Patrick Cantlay was ready for his title defense at the Memorial next week, he answered them on Sunday, shooting a 7-under 65 at Muirfield Village Golf Club during the final round of the Workday Charity Open.

“It actually felt like I gave some back coming in,” Cantlay said. “But I played really well, so I’m happy about getting a good feel on the golf course. The greens were a little quicker, felt a little like a first round of the Memorial out there today, so it was a nice rehearsal for next week.”

A year ago, Cantlay fired a final-round 64 to erase a four-stroke deficit and win his second PGA Tour title. How much did it mean to Cantlay, a former Jack Nicklaus National Player of the Year award winner, to win at the house that Jack built? In response to a congratulatory text from John Cook, one of his mentors growing up at Viriginia Country Club in Long Beach, California, wrote, “If I never win a major, I’ll always have this win.”

Updates | By the rankings | Photos | Leaderboard

“He loves the golf course,” said Cantlay’s instructor Jamie Mulligan recently. “Reminds him of Augusta. It’s a demanding golf course and the complete player is going to be rewarded. Usually when he wins, I get mist in my eyes. This time I just laughed like Mozart. He looked so in control.”

Through the first three rounds at Muirfield Village, Cantlay was stymied by the slower green speeds and found himself relegated to the first tee time off No. 1 at 7 a.m. But he channeled some of the Sunday magic of a year ago. Cantlay started 5 under through his first five holes, including a 13-foot eagle at the fifth. A bogey at the eighth only temporarily slowed his momentum.

Cantlay made birdie at 9 to go out in 31 and tacked on three more birdies coming home. A bogey at the last wrapped up a round of 65 and a 72-hole aggregate of 11-under 277. Not a bad week for Cantlay, who is making just his second start since the Tour resumption.“It was really good prep work,” he said.

But Cantlay isn’t one to get to worked up over a back-door top-10 finish.

“Wins,” he told Golfweek recently. “That’s how we’re measured.”

But it does give him confidence heading into his title defense at The Memorial. No less than Jack Nicklaus wouldn’t be surprised if he was shaking Cantlay’s hand at the back of the 18th green a week from Sunday.

“He’s wound up real tight,” Nicklaus said of Cantlay. “I’m trying to get him to relax a little bit. I had two or three talks with him during the tournament last year, got him to enjoy a little bit. Even got a couple smiles out of him during the round. He’s a good kid, though. Good player, too.”

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Golf equipment used by the top 10 players in the world

See the clubs used by PGA Tour stars such as Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm, Justin Thomas, Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson and Adam Scott in 2020.

If everything goes well, the PGA Tour might be able to resume the 2020 season in six weeks at the Charles Schwab Challenge at Colonial Country Club in Fort Worth, Texas.

The Official World Golf Ranking has been locked since the Players Championship was canceled in mid-March. Below is a list of clubs the golfers ranked in the top 10 on the OWGR had in their bags at the Players Championship, which should provide a good idea about what they will use when professional golf returns.

Tommy Fleetwood's irons
Tommy Fleetwood’s Srixon and TaylorMade irons (David Dusek/Golfweek)

10. Tommy Fleetwood

DRIVER: TaylorMade SIM (10.5 degrees), with Mitsubishi Kuro Kage S TiNi 70X shaft

FAIRWAY WOODS: TaylorMade M6 (15 degrees), with Mitsubishi Diamana DF 70 TX shaft; (18 degrees), with Mitsubishi Kuro Kage S TiNi 80TX shaft

IRONS: Srixon Z 785 (4, 5), TaylorMade P7TW (6-9), with Project X 6.5 shafts

WEDGES: Titleist Vokey Design SM7 (48 degrees), TaylorMade Milled Grind 2 (52, 60 degrees), Titleist Vokey Design BV prototype TVD (56 degrees), with True Temper Dynamic Gold Tour Issue S400 shafts

PUTTER: Odyssey White Hot Pro 3

BALL: Titleist Pro V1

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