Patrick Stephen Cantlay (born March 17, 1992) is an American professional
golf
Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various Golf club, clubs to hit a Golf ball, ball into a series of holes on a golf course, course in as few strokes as possible.
Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standa ...
er. He had a successful amateur career and was the number one golfer in the
World Amateur Golf Ranking for 55 weeks. He has won eight times on the
PGA Tour
The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...
as well as the 2021
FedEx Cup
The FedEx Cup is the championship trophy for the PGA Tour. Its introduction in 2007 marked the first time that men's professional golf had a playoff system. Since its inception, the competition has been sponsored by FedEx. In 2022, the PGA Tour ...
.
He is a member of the 2022 class of the
UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame.
Early life and amateur career
Cantlay was born in
Long Beach, California
Long Beach is a coastal city in southeastern Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is the list of United States cities by population, 44th-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 451,307 as of 2022. A charter ci ...
to Steve and Colleen (Naylan) Cantlay, He has a sister, Caroline, and two brothers, Nick and Jack Cantlay. He attended
Servite High School
Servite High School is a private, Catholic
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized ...
where he won the California State High School Championship as a senior.
In his freshman year at UCLA, Cantlay won four tournaments and won the
Haskins Award as the most outstanding college golfer in 2011. He was also named the
Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) Division I
Jack Nicklaus
Jack William Nicklaus (; born January 21, 1940), nicknamed "the Golden Bear", is an American retired professional golfer and List of golf courses designed by Jack Nicklaus, golf course designer. He is widely considered to be one of the greate ...
National Player of the Year. Cantlay also won the
Phil Mickelson
Philip Alfred Mickelson (born June 16, 1970) is an American professional golfer who currently plays in the LIV Golf League. He has won 45 events on the PGA Tour, including six Men's major golf championships, major championships: three Masters ...
Award as the GCAA National Freshman of the Year in addition to being the
Pac-10 Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year. He also won the
Mark H. McCormack Medal as the top-ranked amateur in the world at the end of the 2011 season. This award earned him an invitation to the
2012 Open Championship.
Cantlay qualified for the
2011 U.S. Open through sectional qualifying. He was one of three amateurs to make the cut along with
Russell Henley and
Brad Benjamin. Rounds of 70 and 72 over the weekend ensured he was low amateur. His back nine 30 was the best in the tournament and he finished in a tie for 21st. The following week, on June 24, Cantlay shot the lowest round in PGA Tour history by an amateur when he shot a course record 60 at the
Travelers Championship at
TPC River Highlands in
Cromwell, Connecticut.
The following week, he finished as the low amateur at the
AT&T National, finishing in a tie for 20th place. The following week, Cantlay won the Southern California Amateur at the
San Gabriel Country Club. He was also low amateur at the 2011
RBC Canadian Open in July, finishing in a tie for ninth place.
On August 6, Cantlay lost to Ethan Tracy in the
Western Amateur final at the
North Shore Country Club in
Glenview, Illinois. On August 28, at
Erin Hills in
Erin, Wisconsin, he lost in the final of the
U.S. Amateur to
Kelly Kraft. Making the finals earned him a spot in the
2012 Masters Tournament, where he finished in a tie for 47th, making him the low amateur.
On March 23, 2011 he became world number 1 in the
World Amateur Golf Ranking. He holds the records for most consecutive weeks at number one, 54, and held the record for most total weeks at number one, 55, until
Jon Rahm eclipsed him in 2016.
Cantlay represented the United States at the
2011 Walker Cup, where he posted a 2–1–1 record.
Professional career
In June 2012, Cantlay decided to forgo his final two years of college to turn professional. The decision to go professional meant forfeiting his spot at the
2012 Open Championship. His professional debut was at the 2012
Travelers Championship, where he missed the cut. Prior to the Travelers, Cantlay announced he would be signing with
Mark Steinberg and Excel Sports Management Group, the same management as
Tiger Woods
Eldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods (born December 30, 1975) is an American professional golfer. He is tied for first in List of golfers with most PGA Tour wins, PGA Tour wins, ranks second in List of men's major championships winning golfers, men's m ...
. Cantlay was the number one amateur in the world before turning pro, holding the top spot for a record 55 weeks. At the time, he was also ranked 415th in the
Official World Golf Ranking. He earned his first professional paycheck at
AT&T National, finishing in a tie for 66th. The following week he finished in a tie for 38th at the
Greenbrier Classic.
Cantlay earned his first professional win at the 2013
Colombia Championship, an event on the
Web.com Tour. He played in the
Web.com Tour Finals and finished 11th to earn his
PGA Tour
The PGA Tour (stylized as PGA TOUR by its officials) is the organizer of professional golf tours in North America. It organizes most of the events on the flagship annual series of tournaments also known as the PGA Tour, the PGA Tour Champion ...
card for 2014. In the 2013–14 season he played only five events due to a back injury and was granted an 11-event medical extension. He played in just one tournament the following season, in late 2014, but didn't play at all in 2015 or 2016. As of the start of the 2017 season, ten starts remained on his medical extension.
In February 2016, his caddie, Chris Roth, was killed in a
hit-and-run accident in
Newport Beach, California
Newport Beach is a coastal city of about 85,000 in southern Orange County, California, United States. Located about southeast of downtown Los Angeles, Newport Beach is known for its sandy beaches. The city's harbor once supported maritime indu ...
while Roth and Cantlay were out on the town. Roth had been a high school teammate of Cantlay's and had caddied for him in his amateur and professional career.
In his second start of the 2017 season, Cantlay regained his PGA Tour card with a runner-up finish at the
Valspar Championship. He finished third at the Heritage, 10th at the Northern Trust, 13th at the Dell Technologies Championship and 9th at the BMW Championship, which allowed him to qualify to the Tour Championship.
In his second start of the 2018 season, on November 5, 2017, Cantlay won his first PGA Tour title at the
Shriners Hospitals for Children Open on the second extra hole of a three-man playoff.
[ It was the second consecutive year in which his second start of the season secured his Tour card for the following season.
On November 4, 2018, Cantlay narrowly missed defending his title at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. He finished second by one stroke to champion Bryson DeChambeau.
In 2019, he finished tied for third place at the PGA Championship behind winner, Brooks Koepka. Two weeks later he won the Memorial Tournament in Dublin, Ohio, a result that lifted him into the world top-10 for the first time. Cantlay shot a final round of 64 to come from four strokes behind the 54-hole leader Martin Kaymer and win his second PGA Tour title.
In October 2019, Cantlay again narrowly missed winning the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. He lost a playoff to Kevin Na on the second playoff hole. In December, Cantlay played on the U.S. team at the 2019 Presidents Cup at Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Australia. The U.S. team won 16–14. Cantlay went 3–2–0 and won his Sunday singles match against Joaquín Niemann.
In October 2020, Cantlay won the Zozo Championship at Sherwood Country Club in ]Thousand Oaks, California
Thousand Oaks is the second-largest city in Ventura County, California, located in the northwestern part of Greater Los Angeles. Approximately from the city of Los Angeles and from Downtown Los Angeles, it is named after the many oak trees pr ...
. The event normally takes place in Japan but was moved to California in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
.
At The American Express in January 2021, Cantlay made the halfway cut on the number; and then fired twenty birdies over the weekend, including in a 11-under-par final round 61 to post a 22-under total and the clubhouse lead. He was eventually edged out by a single stroke by Kim Si-woo. In June, Cantlay won the Memorial Tournament for a second time. He beat Collin Morikawa in a playoff. On August 29, 2021, Cantlay won the BMW Championship on the sixth hole of a sudden-death playoff over Bryson DeChambeau. The following week, Cantlay, on September 5, 2021, won the Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club
East Lake Golf Club is a private golf club 5 miles east of downtown Atlanta, Georgia. Established in 1904, it is the oldest golf course in the city. East Lake was the home course of golfer Bobby Jones (golfer), Bobby Jones and much of its clubh ...
in Atlanta, Georgia. This victory won him the FedEx Cup
The FedEx Cup is the championship trophy for the PGA Tour. Its introduction in 2007 marked the first time that men's professional golf had a playoff system. Since its inception, the competition has been sponsored by FedEx. In 2022, the PGA Tour ...
and a $15,000,000 season long bonus. He was voted the PGA Tour Player of the Year.
In September 2021, Cantlay played on the U.S. team in the 2021 Ryder Cup; he won three and tied one of the four matches he played.
In August 2022, Cantlay successfully defended his title at the BMW Championship.
Cantlay qualified for the U.S. team at the 2022 Presidents Cup; he won three and lost one of the four matches he played.
Early in the 2023 season, Cantlay contended in back-to-back weeks at the Masters Tournament and the RBC Heritage, finishing T14 and third, respectively. Despite his strong results, much of the media coverage focused on his slow pace of play.
In September 2023, Cantlay played on the U.S. team in the 2023 Ryder Cup at Marco Simone Golf and Country Club in Guidonia, Rome
Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
, Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
. The European team won 16.5–11.5 and Cantlay went 2–2–0 including a win in his Sunday singles match against Justin Rose. Cantlay allegedly refused to wear a team hat at the event due to a dispute about whether the players should be paid for playing. Cantlay later denied this but it was confirmed by golf journalist Michael Bamberger. The controversy led to European fans openly mocking Cantlay and chanting and singing "Hats off to your bank account". Cantlay apparently used this as fuel and played excellently during the final sessions of the event.
Professional wins (9)
PGA Tour wins (8)
1Started tournament at −10 FedEx Cup playoffs adjustment, scored −11 to par.
PGA Tour playoff record (3–4)
Web.com Tour wins (1)
Web.com Tour playoff record (0–1)
Results in major championships
''Results not in chronological order in 2020.''
LA = low amateur
CUT = missed the half-way cut
"T" = tied for place
NT = no tournament due to COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
Summary
*Most consecutive cuts made – 10 (2018 U.S. Open – 2020 Masters)
*Longest streak of top-10s – 2 (2019 Masters – 2019 PGA)
Results in The Players Championship
CUT = missed the halfway cut
"T" indicates a tie for a place
C = Canceled after the first round due to the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
Results in World Golf Championships
1Cancelled due to COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic.
The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...
pandemic
NT = No tournament
"T" = Tied
QF, R16, R32, R64 = Round in which player lost in match play
Note that the Championship and Invitational were discontinued from 2022. The Champions was discontinued from 2023.
PGA Tour career summary
Cantlay was an amateur.
* ''As of September 8, 2021''
U.S. national team appearances
Amateur
* Palmer Cup: 2011
The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...
(winners)
* Walker Cup: 2011
The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...
Professional
* Presidents Cup: 2019
This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year.
Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...
(winners), 2022
The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...
(winners), 2024
The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...
(winners)
* Ryder Cup: 2021
Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...
(winners), 2023
Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...
See also
* 2013 Web.com Tour Finals graduates
References
External links
*
*
*
Profile on UCLA's official athletic site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cantlay, Patrick
American male golfers
UCLA Bruins men's golfers
PGA Tour golfers
Ryder Cup competitors for the United States
Presidents Cup competitors for the United States
Korn Ferry Tour graduates
Servite High School alumni
Golfers from Long Beach, California
1992 births
Living people
21st-century American sportsmen