Baltimore, you were heard. Especially, it seems, by the BMW Championship victor.
On a day when Patrick Cantlay needed every ounce of strength to outlast Bryson DeChambeau in Sunday’s final round, he found motivation from a vocal and boisterous crowd at Caves Valley Golf Club in Owings Mills that seemed to celebrate his ability to bury a 17-foot, 6-inch birdie putt and outlast DeChambeau on No. 18 – the sixth playoff hole of the afternoon – for the tournament crown.
“It’s so nice to be back with fans, and they were just so supportive all day,” the 29-year-old Cantlay told the tour’s broadcast partner just off the No. 18 green. “They’ve been supportive for the last four days. Just the chants of ‘Patty’ or ‘Patty Ice,’ I’m hearing it all week, and it’s fun. It’s great to have them back, and they were awesome today.”
With the victory, Cantlay – who shot a 6-under-par 66 for a tournament total of 27-under – moved from fourth to the top of the FedEx Cup standings. He will begin this week’s Tour Championship at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta at 10-under, a two-stroke advantage over Tony Finau, the Northern Trust winner from last Monday.
Cantlay lived up to the “Patty Ice” moniker. He slipped in a birdie putt of 21 feet, 9 inches on the par-4, 476-yard No. 18 to tie DeChambeau and go to a playoff. Cantlay dropped par putts of 5 feet, 5 inches and 6 feet, 11 inches on No. 18 in the first two playoff holes. And after DeChambeau nailed his tee shot on the par-3, 186-yard No. 17 to within 6 feet, 1 inch of the hole, Cantlay calmly placed his within 2 feet, 4 inches.
“I’m just as focused as I can be,” he said of his mindset. “I love what I do, and that’s because I’m locked in and I’m focused.”
Cantlay won for the fifth time on the PGA Tour and for only the second time this year since the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village Golf Club in Dublin, Ohio, on June 6, when he defeated Collin Morikawa on the first playoff hole.
Unlike that ending, Cantlay had a much tougher go against DeChambeau, his playing partner in Sunday’s final round. The pair parred No. 18 twice, No. 17, and No. 18 for a third time.
After both golfers birdied No. 17, they went back to No. 18 and hit their drives into the fairway. From 181 yards out, Cantlay placed his second shot within 17 feet, 6 inches of the hole, while DeChambeau dropped his ball to 8 feet, 9 inches.
Cantlay drained his birdie putt. DeChambeau’s putt to send them to a seventh playoff hole slid beneath the hole and saddled him with his first playoff loss in two opportunities.
That Cantlay was able to persevere did not seem likely in regulation. On the par-5, 595-yard No. 16, DeChambeau sank a birdie putt of 12 feet, 6 inches to dip to 7-under for the round and 28-under overall and take a one-stroke lead over Cantlay.
On the ensuing hole, DeChambeau’s shot off the tee dropped into the front right rough. But Cantlay’s tee shot bounced off the rough and into a water hazard to the right of the green, seemingly giving the tournament to DeChambeau.
After Cantlay struck his third shot to within 8 feet of the hole, DeChambeau mis-hit his second shot from the rough, leaving himself a par putt of 10 feet, 11 inches. He missed and settled for bogey, which Cantlay matched.
On No. 18, Cantlay slid in his long birdie putt, while DeChambeau missed his birdie chance of 12 feet, 7 inches.
Cantlay, who is ranked No. 10 in the world, was two spots away from qualifying for last year’s Tour Championship, and his best finish at the event is a tie for 20th in 2017. But he admitted he is feeling confident.
“My game feels really good,” he said. “It has for a while now since the Memorial, and I’m finally starting to putt like me again. It’s just really nice.”
The playoff battle capped a stunning week of low scores at Caves Valley, with every golfer finishing under par. Cantlay and DeChambeau set a BMW Championship record by finishing 27-under, beating the previous record of 25-under by Justin Thomas two years ago at Medinah Country Club in Illinois. Ernie Els holds the PGA Tour’s 72-hole record of 31-under at the 2003 Mercedes Championship in Hawaii.
The weekend also turned out well for Sergio Garcia, the 41-year-old Spaniard who tied for sixth at -20 and moved from No. 44 to No. 28 in the FedEx Cup standings to cement his first berth in the Tour Championship this weekend at East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta.
“I was just really enjoying it,” said Garcia, who carded a 3-under 69. “Obviously I was having fun playing with [fellow countryman] Rahm, with Jon. I was enjoying my game because I played great all week. I knew that I just had to keep believing in myself. Because of that, I couldn’t just kind of put my shoulders down and give up. It was nice to do that and just happy to have a nice week.”
FINAL LEADERBOARD
T1. Patrick Cantlay (-27; 66-63-66-66 — 261)
T1. Bryson DeChambeau (-27; 68-60-67-66 — 261)
3. Sungjae Im (-23; 67-65-66-67 — 265)
4. Rory McIlroy (-22; 64-70-65-67 — 266)
5. Erik van Rooyen (-21; 67-68-67-65 — 267)
T6. Sergio Garcia (-20; 65-67-67-69 — 268)
T6. Dustin Johnson (-20; 67-70-65-66 — 268)
8. Sam Burns (-19; 64-70-65-70 — 269)
T9. Abraham Ancer (-18; 66-67-66-71 —270)
T9. Alex Noren (-18; 71-66-67-66 — 270)
T9. Jon Rahm (-18; 64-66-70-70 — 270)
T12. K.H. Lee (-17; 69-69-66-67 — 271)
T12. Webb Simpson (-17; 67-72-66-66 — 271)
T12. Harold Varner III (-17; 67-70-69-65 — 271)
T15. Tony Finau (-16; 67-72-70-63 — 272)
T15. Jason Kokrak (-16; 73-68-65-66 — 272)
T17. Viktor Hovland (-15; 70-69-68-66 — 273)
T17. Kevin Na (-15; 72-65-69-67 — 273)
T17. Charl Schwartzel (-15; 71-66-68-68 — 273)
T17. Hudson Swafford (-15; 67-66-68-72 — 273)
T17. Aaron Wise (-15; 69-66-71-67 — 273)
T22. Corey Conners (-14; 70-70-69-65 — 274)
T22. Brooks Koepka (-14; 70-67-69-68 — 274)
T22. Scottie Scheffler (-14; 73-66-68-67 — 274)
T22. Justin Thomas (-14; 68-71-69-66 — 274)
T26. Daniel Berger (-13; 68-71-70-66 — 275)
T26. Harris English (-13; 69-70-71-65 — 275)
T26. Shane Lowry (-13; 71-68-71-65 — 275)
T29. Cam Davis (-12; 73-67-67-69 — 276)
T29. Brian Harman (-12; 69-69-70-68 — 276)
T29. Si Woo Kim (-12; 74-71-65-66 — 276)
T29. Sebastián Muñoz (-12; 67-68-72-69 — 276)
T29. Joaquin Niemann (-12; 68-74-68-66 — 276)
T34. Patton Kizzire (-11; 69-72-68-68 — 277)
T34. Cameron Smith (-11; 68-72-69-68 — 277)
T34. Jordan Spieth (-11; 71-70-70-66 — 277)
T34. Lee Westwood (-11; 71-70-67-69 — 277)
T38. Paul Casey (-10; 68-68-70-72 — 278)
T38. Stewart Cink (-10; 69-74-66-69 — 278)
T38. Lucas Glover (-10; 68-67-73-70 — 278)
T38. Harry Higgs (-10; 72-67-71-68 — 278)
T38. Charley Hoffman (-10; 69-71-68-70 — 278)
T38. Matt Jones (-10; 69-70-71-68 — 278)
T38. Louis Oosthuizen (-10; 71-74-64-69 — 278)
T38. Jhonattan Vegas (-10; 69-70-72-67 — 278)
T46. Emiliano Grillo (-9; 67-73-73-66 — 279)
T46. Hideki Matsuyama (-9; 67-69-72-71 — 279)
48. Chris Kirk (-8; 71-71-68-70 — 280)
T49. Tom Hoge (-7; 69-71-71-70 — 281)
T49. Xander Schauffele (-7; 67-68-75-71 — 281)
51. Marc Leishman (-6; 69-76-68-69 — 282)
T52. Branden Grace (-5; 75-71-68-69 — 283)
T52. Billy Horschel (-5; 71-72-73-67 — 283)
T52. Mackenzie Hughes (-5; 69-71-70-73 — 283)
T52. Kevin Streelman (-5; 71-70-70-72 — 283)
T52. Cameron Tringale (-5; 73-71-70-69 — 283)
T57. Talor Gooch (-4; 69-71-74-70 — 284)
T57. Keith Mitchell (-4; 72-70-73-69 — 284)
T57. Ryan Palmer (-4; 68-75-69-72 — 284)
T60. Keegan Bradley (-3; 67-76-72-70 — 285)
T60. Russell Henley (-3; 72-73-73-67 — 285)
T60. Robert Streb (-3; 73-71-69-72 — 285)
T63. Max Homa (-2; 72-72-73-69 — 286)
T63. Maverick McNealy (-2; 69-70-70-77 — 286)
T63. Collin Morikawa (-2; 72-75-70-69 — 286)
T66. Cameron Champ (-1; 70-74-72-71 — 287)
T66. Kevin Kisner (-1; 72-71-72-72 — 287)
T66. Phil Mickelson (-1; 68-77-68-74 — 287)
T66. Carlos Ortiz (-1; 68-74-75-70 — 287)
