ATLANTA: Patrick Cantlay still doesn’t like the system, which saw him win $ 15 million on Sunday as the PGA Tour’s all-season champion despite not getting the lowest 72-hole score in the Tour Championship.
Do not care.
Cantlay followed the format, and got it right when it was necessary to hold on to Jon Rahm and win the FedEx Cup title at East Lake, while at the same time stamping himself as a great player over the past few weeks.
After sending Bryson DeChambeau to the BMW Championship in a six-hole playoff a week ago, Cantlay kept fit and led the Tour-adjusted Championship by strokes from the moment he left on Thursday until he passed the his putt birdie winner on sunday.
And he took the full lap on a ten-year journey that saw him as a UCLA college player and the country’s top fan to a low point when a back injury prevented him from playing golf for two. years. Now, here it is, beating the best players in the game while standing between them.
“The most important thing is that it has given me a great perspective,” said Cantlay, 29, who ranks fourth in the world. “I think for a long time everything went very well. As I grew up, I felt that I was getting better and better at golf and that life was getting better and better, and then it got as bad as it could have been. I felt as low as it could have been for a while.
“Going to the other side of this, I feel like I’m a better person after going through these dark days. But it gives me a great perspective and it makes me very grateful to be in the position I’m in, because it wasn’t always something safe. I was very close to going back to school and leaving golf behind me. “
“And so I’m very grateful to be where I am,” he added, “and I’m very pleased with all the hard work that pays off.”
It looks like Cantlay had the tournament secured when he watched the 16th hole to overtake Rahm’s two. Then Cantlay almost returned it all with an approach on the green on the 17th, a shot that fell short and a tricky 5 feet for bogey to maintain a one-shot lead.
And when Rahm made his second shot on the green at par-5 18, creating an eagle opportunity, Cantlay continued – having hit a 361-yard car – with an iron 6 to 11 feet. This created a two-goal bird and a one-shot victory.
It meant a $ 15 million payout for Cantlay from the FedEx Cup bonus fund, with Rahm earning $ 5 million.
“It seemed like a huge victory to me, and it was like that,” Cantlay said. “I played really well [Sunday]. I kept telling myself to concentrate and shut up, and today I did a great job. “
Cantlay had no choice but to leave East Lake with the title. Rahm showed an intimidating presence while playing the last three rounds with Cantlay, doing his best to overcome a four-shot deficit earlier in the week that was part of the FedEx Cup’s only formula, in which players began by means of staggered annotations related to their position in the points race.
Rahm, the reigning U.S. Open champion, shot 68 on Sunday with no bogey, but just didn’t get enough birdie putts to drop the tie. And when it looked like things could turn to par-4 17, Cantlay delivered again.
“Patrick was playing great golf and had four shots ahead [at the start of the tournament]. Even though he would have been the best man during the week, he won it, ”Rahm said.“ He played amazing. This up and down after getting lost [the first chip on] 17, the second shot from 18 to almost doing so is even more impressive.
“I think you can say he won that. He played amazing golf.”
Rahm still had a good payday, with $ 5 million.
“I found it weird to have that feeling of disappointment at not winning a day that would earn me $ 5 million,” Rahm said.
Both Cantlay and Rahm have pointed out flaws in the FedEx system. Both have made clear their feelings about their shortcomings. And yet they are the ones who provided the drama, as no one else was able to get close.
Rahm didn’t know at the time that he was really tying Kevin Na with a total of 72 holes lower, shooting 14 below par. Xander Schauffele was next at 12, and Cantlay tied at 11 with Viktor Hovland and Justin Thomas.
“I think this format is less confusing. But I don’t think it’s a good format,” Rahm said. “I don’t like that we don’t have a Tour champion anymore. So I don’t like anyone to know, when they look at the scoreboard, who shot the lowest round this week.”
However, all players knew the rules and Cantlay managed to protect his advantage of two shots from all week. This is a different type of pressure, which he said was difficult to process.
The last three rounds were especially intense, as both Cantlay and Rahm put on an impressive show, which would be fun if repeated in three weeks in the Ryder Cup, for which Cantlay suddenly seems the best North American player. American and Rahm will. without a doubt, you are among the most important for Europe.
It was the fourth win of the season for Cantlay, who won the Zozo Championship in October, the Memorial Tournament in June, the BMW and the Tour Championship.
At the Zozo, Cantlay resisted Thomas and Rahm. Cantlay defeated Collin Morikawa in a playoff at the Memorial, after Rahm retired due to a positive test from COVID-19 when he led six shots after 54 holes. Last week at BMW, Cantlay continually made putts to stay alive, eventually winning with a birdt putt to send DeChambeau into the sixth extra hole.
“I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s underestimated, but I could tell you undervalued,” Stewart Cink said. “Patrick doesn’t have anything to stand out, but that’s what makes him such a great player that I don’t have anything that is a weakness either.
“He has a lot of time. He hits a lot of streets. He has a massive short game. He’s tough under the gun and he’s a great putter. I mean, I know golf pretty well. You tell me if I’m missing something here. It’s all package “.