Patrick Cantlay arrived at Pebble Beach for the 119th U.S. Open as one of the favorites, riding a streak of fine form that stretches back two months to the Masters. The Forecaddie can report one possible explanation for that uptick in performance: the talented Californian has started working with famed putting guru Brad Faxon.
The pair were together on the putting green at Pebble Beach on Monday evening, working between chatting with Tiger Woods and Dustin Johnson. But The Man Out Front has learned that the Cantlay-Faxon partnership goes back two months, specifically to April 6, when they first got together at McArthur Golf Club near their homes in the Palm Beach area of Florida.
That meeting fell five days before the opening round of the Masters. Cantlay, who had never cracked the top 10 in a major championship, went on to finish T-9 at Augusta National.
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Things only got better from there. A week later he was T-3 at the RBC Heritage, followed by a T-3 finish at the PGA Championship at Bethpage Black. Two weeks ago he fired a final-round 64 to claim his second PGA Tour victory at the Memorial Tournament.
During that stretch Cantlay has earned almost $3 million and climbed from a world ranking of 21 to No. 8. Last year Cantlay ranked a dismal 153rd in Strokes Gained Putting on the PGA Tour. Today he is 29th.
When the Forecaddie asked Faxon to confirm the Cantlay connection he just smiled and said, “Ask Patrick.”
Cantlay isn’t the first player who was struggling on the greens to find his way to the eight-time PGA Tour winner, who is widely regarded among the finest putters in the history of the game. Rory McIlroy began working with Faxon on Monday of the Arnold Palmer Invitational in 2018. The Northern Irishman went on to win that week, and has since added victories at the Players Championship and last week’s RBC Canadian Open.
If Cantlay wins this week, Faxon may want to change his phone number.
