Patrick Cantlay

Cantlay began playing golf at age 3, thanks to his father and grandfather, both good players. By the time Patrick turned 8, he had developed an insatiable love for Golf. Cantlay played baseball and basketball until high school, when he realized his skills were no longer developing at the same pace as his teammates. Not only did Patrick's grandfather have a putting green in his backyard, his parents were members of the Virginia Country Club, just outside of Long Beach. Patrick attended junior clinics and was lucky to benefit by not having one able teacher but two. Head pro and CEO of Virginia C.C. Jamie Mulligan, was helping many touring pros including John Cook and Paul Goydos. Mulligan made sure that Cantlay excelled at the core fundamentals of golf while assistant pro Mike Miles showed Patrick the importance of simply getting the ball in the hole. Both recognized that Cantlay had the makings of a great champion and molded him into one of the best PGA Tour pros.
With this Cantlay became a very good amateur, he won the California state high school championship in 2010.. Later that year, he advanced to the semifinals of the 2010 U.S. Amateur at age 18, losing to eventual champion Peter Uihlein, 4 & 3.
Cantlay played two years at UCLA before turning professional. For his stellar freshman season, he won the 2011 Jack Nicklaus Award as Collegiate Player of the Year. He also won the Phil Mickelson Award as the nation's outstanding freshman and was named a PING first-team All-American. He won four collegiate events in his freshman season and had seven top-5 finishes. Set a new UCLA single-season scoring average of 70.5. He was named the Pac-10 Player of the Year in 2011 and Freshman of the Year, becoming the second golfer in league history to earn both awards in the same season.
In 2011, Cantlay was the low amateur at the U.S. Open, scoring 75-67-70-72 -- 284 (E), tying for 21st place. He played on the 2011 Walker Cup team and was 2-1-1. He advanced to the final at the 2011 U.S. Amateur before Kelly Kraft defeated him 2-up. At the 2011 Travelers Championship, he shot a second-round 60, the lowest round by an amateur in the PGA Tour history.
In 2012, he finished T-47th at Masters and earned low-amateur honors. At the NCAA Championship, he finished T-4th in the individual competition. He ended his amateur career by finishing T-41st at the U.S. Open, but Jordan Spieth earned low-amateur honors. Cantlay turned professional and missed the cut at the Travelers. He played 10 PGA Tour events for the year, with his best finish a T-31st at the Wyndham Championship. Played in four Korn Ferry Tour events and contended in two of them. At the Chiquita Classic, shot weekend rounds of 65-65 to force a playoff with Russell Henley, which Henley won on the first extra hole. At TPC Sawgrass' Dye's Valley Course, home of the Winn-Dixie Jacksonville Open, Cantlay was T-2nd through 54 holes, a stroke behind leader B.J. Staten. He eventually shot a two-over-par 72 on the final day to drop to T-5th. At the end of the year, he went to PGA Tour Q-School and finished T-95th.
2013 Notes: Fast-tracked for success, Cantlay instead was derailed. Things started great with a win in his second Korn Ferry Tour start at the Colombia Championship. He also got into AT&T Pebble Beach and finished T-9th. However, in the second round at Colonial, something went wrong, and he made a swing and experienced extreme back pain. Hoping the discomfort would subside, he played seven holes before withdrawing. Weeks later, he was diagnosed with a stress fracture in his L5 vertebrae. Cantlay didn't play for three months, and his position atop the Korn Ferry Tour money list plummeted. Compelled to return that fall to secure his card, he missed two consecutive cuts before gutting out a runner-up finish at the Hotel Fitness, the first season-ending playoff event. That would be his last start on the Korn Ferry Tour due to back pain. He didn't play again for seven months.
2014 Notes: Played for the first time at the Byron Nelson Championship, finishing T-71st. His back still bothered him. He played four more times, finishing T-23rd at The Greenbrier, but missed the cut in the other three events.
2015 Notes: Cantlay was diagnosed by his doctor that he had a stress fracture in his lower back, and he couldn't touch a club, not even a putter, for 10 months. In November 2014, he played in the OHL Classic at Mayakoba and finished 76th. It would be 14 months before he rejoined the PGA Tour, but not before another major tragedy hit him.
2016 Notes: Cantlay was set to play in the CareerBuilder Challenge, but his back was still hurting. In February, he was walking with his caddie and friend Chris Roth around Newport Beach, California. They talked about his back problems of the last three years, and while crossing a major intersection, a car crashed into Roth, sending him flying through the air. Cantlay called for help. That night, Roth died, sending Cantlay into another performance tailspin. Cantlay didn't touch a club until the end of the year. He visited doctors in Denver, New York, and Los Angeles. He even flew to Germany to undergo the Regenokine procedure made famous by basketball star Kobe Bryant. Nothing worked. They were no closer to a solution, but Cantlay changed his training routine, and the pain subsided at the end of the year. He started hitting balls again, and his longtime coach, Jamie Mulligan, helped modify his swing to reduce back stress.
2017 Notes: Made his first start at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, where he finished T-48th. A month later, he played at the Valspar Championship and bogeyed the 72nd hole to finish second behind Adam Hadwin. With the solid finish and a check for $680,400, he was able to claim his PGA Tour card. A month later, Cantlay put together another great 72 holes at the RBC Heritage and finished two strokes behind winner Wesley Bryan for a T-3rd result. After playing in only nine tournaments, he entered the playoffs 77th in the FedExCup race. In his first playoff event, he finished T-10th at the Northern Trust. He was T-13th at the Dell Technologies and T-9th at the BMW Championship. He climbed to 29th in the standings, giving him a spot at the Tour Championship. Cantlay and Xander Schauffele were the only rookies to advance to the Tour Championship. With a T-20th finish, Cantlay ended the FedExCup race in 29th place.
2018 Notes: Played 23 PGA Tour events, making 21 cuts with seven top-10 finishes. He started his year with a T-15th at the WGC-HSBC Champions, then flew to Las Vegas and won the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in his 43rd PGA Tour start. He defeated Whee Kim and Alex Cejka with a par at the second playoff hole for his first PGA Tour title. He finished T-4th, three shots behind winner Bubba Watson, at the Genesis Open, where he held a share of the 18- and 36-hole leads. Finished T-7th at the RBC Heritage, 4th at the Memorial (one stroke out of the playoff), and T-6th at the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational. In the FedExCup playoffs, Cantlay started with a T-8th at the Northern Trust and reached the Tour Championship. He finished the year 20th in the FedExCup standings.
2019 Notes: Played 21 PGA Tour events, making 18 cuts with nine top-10 finishes. He placed 27th in the final FedExCup standings. After a T-7th at the WGC-HSBC Champions, he fell one shot short of defending his title at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, finishing as runner-up behind winner Bryson DeChambeau. Was T-9th at the Desert Classic and the WGC-Mexico Championship, started with a 72, and rebounded with rounds of 67-65-70 to finish T-6th. Shot 64-68 to finish T-9th at the Masters after making the cut on the number at two-over-par. Cantlay briefly shared the lead in the late stages of the final round after making an eagle on 15, but he dropped back with a three-putt bogey on 16 and another bogey on 17. Finished T-3rd the next week at the RBC Heritage, two strokes behind winner C.T. Pan. He had his second consecutive top-10 in a major at the PGA Championship, finishing T-3rd. He earned his second PGA Tour victory in his 78th start at the Memorial Tournament, coming from four shots back. He fired a bogey-free 8-under 64 at Muirfield Village Golf Club to win by two strokes over Adam Scott. His 64 marked the lowest final-round score by a winner in tournament history. He joined Tiger Woods as the only past Jack Nicklaus Award winner (as the 2011 top collegiate player) to win the Memorial Tournament. In the FedExCup playoffs, he finished T-12th with four subpar rounds at the Northern Trust. The next week at the BMW Championship, he played in the final group and trailed 54-hole leader Justin Thomas by six strokes. Cantlay shot 65 to finish 2nd but couldn't catch Thomas, who shot 68. He went into the Tour Championship ranked 2nd in the FedExCup playoffs but couldn't take advantage of his 8-under-par start, and with rounds of 70-71-75-73, he finished T-21st. He compiled a 3-2-0 record at the Presidents Cup, including a 3 & 2 singles win over Joaquin Niemann.
2020 Notes: Played in 12 PGA Tour events, making 11 cuts with three top-10 finishes. In the FedExCup standings was 34th. He played well again for a third consecutive year at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open but ended play tied with Kevin Na and lost the playoff when he bogeyed the second extra hole. Shot a final-round 68 at the Sentry Tournament of Champions to finish 4th, three strokes out of the Schauffele/Reed/Thomas playoff. After finishing T-17th at the Genesis Invitational, he took three weeks off to undergo surgery to clean up from a November 2018 operation to correct a deviated septum. The septum is the bone and cartilage that divides the two nostrils in the nose, and surgery is the only way to promote better airflow. In his first start after the break, finishing T-11th at the Travelers Championship, then T-7th at the Workday Charity. In the FedExCup playoffs, he missed the cut at the Northern Trust and finished T-12th at the BMW Championship.
2021 Notes: Played in 24 PGA Tour events, making 19 cuts with seven top-ten finishes. Won the FedExCup title and earned the Jack Nicklaus Award as PGA Tour Player of the Year after winning four times, becoming the first player with four or more victories in a single season since Justin Thomas and Dustin Johnson in 2016-17. He held the lead in the FedExCup standings for 11 weeks, second-most of any player (Bryson DeChambeau, 20). He was tied for the lead going into the final round of the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open but shot 73 in the final round to finish T-8th. Shot a final-round 65 to win the Zozo Championship@Sherwood by a stroke over Justin Thomas and Jon Rahm. Shot a final-round 61 to finish 2nd at the American Express, one shot behind winner Si Woo Kim. Made 20 birdies over the final 36 holes, becoming the first player on record (since 1983) to make 20 or more in the final two rounds of a 72-hole PGA Tour event. At the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-am shot a first-round 62, becoming the third player in tournament history to shoot 62 or better at Pebble Beach (also doing it, Tom Kite in 1983 and David Duval in 1997). Finished with rounds of 73-70-68 and was T-3rd, three shots back of winner Daniel Berger. He defeated Collin Morikawa in a playoff to win the Memorial Tournament for the second time, earning his fourth PGA Tour title and second of the season at 29 years, 2 months, 20 days. After finishing T-15th at the U.S. Open and missing the cut at the British Open, Cantlay went into the FedExCup playoffs 3rd. He was T-11th in the Northern Trust. Won the BMW Championship held at Caves Valley. Cantlay beat Bryson DeChambeau in a six-hole playoff with a birdie. Sank a 21-foot, 9-inch putt for birdie on the 72nd hole to force the playoff. Became the first player in the ShotLink era with a Strokes Gained: Putting mark of more than 14.5 (14.577) and made 537 feet, 5 inches of putts (in regulation), becoming the third winner in the ShotLink era to make over 500 feet of putts in an event. Entered the Tour Championship first in the FedExCup (-10) and won by a shot over Jon Rahm, claiming his first FedExCup title and sixth career PGA Tour victory. Became the third player in the FedExCup era to hold the No. 1 position entering the Tour Championship and go on to win the FedExCup, joining Tiger Woods (2009) and Dustin Johnson (2020). He played in his first Ryder Cup and finished with a 3-0-1 record for the week. He won his singles match against Shane Lowry, 4 & 2.
2022 Notes: Played in 20 PGA Tour events, making 18 cuts with 12 top-10 finishes. In the FedExCup standings was 7th. Cantlay opened up his season with a 4th place finish at the Sentry Tournament of Champions, eight shots back of winner Cameron Smith. He held a share of the 18-hole lead and the outright 36-hole lead at The American Express but shot 72-68 to finish 9th. At the AT&T Pebble Beach was T-4th, four shots back of winner Tom Hoge. A week later lost to Scottie Scheffler in a playoff at the WM Phoenix Open, earning the sixth runner-up finish of his career. He lost another playoff to Jordan Spieth at the RBC Heritage after holding a two-shot lead through two rounds. Fell to 3-3 in playoffs in his career. Things changed the next week as he won the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, teaming with partner Xander Schauffele to win the event in wire-to-wire fashion. Became the first player since Dustin Johnson in the 2020 FedExCup Playoffs to lose in a playoff one week (RBC Heritage) and win the following week. The Cantlay and Schauffele team became the first in tournament history to break 60 in either format with a first-round 59 in four-ball. The victory came in Cantlay's 131st career start at 30 years, 1 month, and 7 days, marking his first victory since turning 30. Looking for his third victory at the Memorial in the last four years finished T-3rd, six shots back of winner Billy Horschel. Went into the final round of the Travelers Championship in 2nd place but shot a final round 76 to finish T-13th. Shot 69-67 over the weekend to finish T-4th at the Genesis Scottish Open, three shots back of winner Xander Schauffele. Next week was T-8th at the British Open. He finished T-2nd at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, five shots back of winner Tony Finau. It was his third runner-up of the season. In the FedExCup playoffs was T-57th at the FedEx St. Jude. He successfully defended his title at the BMW Championship by a shot over Scott Stallings. He went into the season-ending Tour Championship 2nd in the FedExCup standings but finished T-7th at East Lake. He played in his second Presidents Cup and was 3-1-0, he beat Adam Scott in the singles 3 & 2.
2023 Notes: Played in 21 PGA Tour events, making 19 cuts with 10 top-10 finishes. In the FedExCup standings was 5th. Was T-2nd at the Shriners Children's Open, three shots back of winner Tom Kim. Cantlay was tied with Kim going into the final hole but made a triple-bogey 7 to lose the tournament. He was T-3rd at the Genesis Invitational, three shots back of winner Jon Rahm. T-4th at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, two shots back of winner Kurt Kitayama. At the WGC-Dell Match, Play was 3-0-0 in group play, beating Nick Taylor, K.H. Lee, and Brian Harman. But in the round of 16 lost to eventual winner Sam Burns 2 & 1. He was 3rd at the RBC Heritage, a shot back of the Matt Fitzpatrick/Jordan Spieth playoff. Finished T-9th at the PGA Championship. Shot 61-67 over the weekend to finish T-4th at the Travelers Championship, four shots back of winner Keegan Bradley. In the FedExCup playoffs, started by losing a playoff to Lucas Glover at the FedEx St. Jude. Was T-15th at the MBW Championship and 5th at the Tour Championship. Played in his second Ryder Cup and had a 2-2-0 record, beat Justin Rose in the singles, 2 & 1.
2024 Notes: Held the outright lead after each of the first three rounds of The Genesis Invitational. shot final round 72 to finish T-4th, four shots back of winner Hideki Matuyama. It was his third top-five at the Genesis and second consecutive.