Cantlay heists Memorial for second TOUR title

By
Mo Yoshimoto,

By
Mo Yoshimoto

Published June 3, 2019 10:46 AM

the Memorial Tournament

Dublin, OH

Playing out of the penultimate twosome, World No. 15 Patrick Cantlay erased a four-shot deficit with a day-low, bogey-free, 8-under-par 31-33=64 in Sunday’s final round at Muirfield Village Golf Club to reach 19-under 269, up two spots on the day and good for a two-shot victory over runner-up Adam Scott, who shot 68 out of the final twosome.

Second-round tri-leader and third-round leader Martin Kaymer, making just his second appearance (T53/2009), stalled out to 72 for solo 3^rd, four back, while Kevin Streelman (66) took 4^th, six in arrears, and Marc Leishman (69), claimed solo 5^th, seven adrift.

The 27-year-old, a pre-tourney 16/1 outright, bags his second PGA TOUR title in 78 events (70 pro), first since the 2018 Shriners 35 starts ago, where he also came from four back with 4-under 67 before winning a 3-man playoff over Alex Cejka and Whee Kim.

FUN FACT: Cantlay didn’t touch the lead this week until after the 11^th hole on Sunday, where he tied Kaymer on 17-under with his sixth birdie of the round. In his maiden victory in Las Vegas, he also didn’t touch the lead all week until after the 11^th hole on Sunday, following his fourth birdie of that finale, and then went on to birdie 12, 13 and 14 for good measure.

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This was the UCLA product’s third Memorial, third cash and second top 25, second straight after solo 4^th last year, where he was T2 thru 54 holes and closed with 71 out of the final threesome, coming up one swing shy of a 3-man playoff involving Byeong Hun An and playing competitors Kyle Stanley and Bryson DeChambeau.

Fellow California native DeChambeau was the eventual winner in 2018, claiming his second TOUR title, same as Cantlay. DeChambeau’s Sunday 66 this year was also bogey-free, one of just two on the day (Cantlay), and salvaged a T22 in defense, up 37 places on the lap, and ended a streak of three consecutive missed cuts on arrival.

With rounds of 68-69-68-64, Cantlay was the only player to record all four rounds in the 60s this week and the only player to finish in the top 10 in each of the last two editions. He also finished in the top 10 in all five strokes gained sub-categories, just the second player to accomplish that this season, and just the third since the beginning of the 2016-17 season in 88 ShotLink-lasered events.

Final Leaderboard (pre-tourney odds outright):

1- (-19, 269) Patrick Cantlay (16/1)

2- (-17, 271) Adam Scott (33/1)

3- (-15, 273) Martin Kaymer (150/1)

4- (-13, 275) Kevin Streelman (125/1)

5- (-12, 276) Marc Leishman (66/1)

Note: Repeat top-10 finishers from last year: 1 player: Cantlay (1-4)

Cantlay’s Season:

Starts: 14

Cuts Made: 11

Top 25s: 11

Top 10s: 8

Top 3s: 4

Wins: 1

After opening with 68-69-68, Cantlay began T3, four back of Kaymer.

On nine (of 14) fairways and 15 greens in regulation, he rang up eight birdies at 2, 5, 7-9, 11, 14 and 15, four from between 11 and 15 feet, and also saved par two times from between six and nine feet

OUT: 5-under 31 (5 birdies, NO bogeys); Kaymer leads by 1 (over Cantlay)

IN: 3-under 33 (3 birdies, NO bogeys); Cantlay WINS by 2 (over Scott)

Cantlay, who checked in off three straight top 10s (in individual events), including T3’s in his last two at the RBC Heritage and the PGA Championship two weeks ago, recorded 5.143 SG: Tee-to-Green and 2.980 SG: Putting with 28 total putts. He wrapped the week with 25 birdies versus six bogeys.

The South Florida resident (and member at The Bear’s Club) improves to 11-for-14 on the season with 11 top 25s and eight top 10s, four of those top 5s.

Season Form (last 10): 1-3-MC (team)-3-9-24-MC-6-15-MC

Note: Through 31 (non-team) events this season, Cantlay is seventh player to record a top-10 finish in the start prior to their win.

How Cantlay Won the Tournament:

Ranked 1^st (or T1) in: Total Birdies; Birdie or Better Percentage; Birdie to Bogey Ratio; Par-5 Scoring; All-Around

Ranked 2^nd (or T2) in: Par-4 Scoring; Driving Distance (all drives); SG: Tee-to-Green

Note: See “Strokes Gained Leaders Stats” at the bottom, along with his full stats.

Least Important Stat(s): Driving Accuracy (ranked T51)

By the Numbers:

1: Cantlay’s 19-under 269 came up 1 stroke short of the tournament record (20-under 268 by Tom Lehman in 1994).

2: Scott’s solo 2^nd was his 13^th runner-up in 314 events and his second runner-up of the season in 12 starts (2^nd, Farmers). Thirteen (13) is also how many TOUR wins the 38-year-old owns, but hasn’t won since the 2016 WGC-Cadillac (Doral) 63 starts and 1,183 days ago.

2: Cantlay’s previous best this season was solo 2^nd at the Shriners in his title defense.

3: Cantlay is one of just three players who finished top 10 at this season’s Masters and PGA: Brooks Koepka (1-2); Dustin Johnson (2-2); Cantlay (3-9).

3: Jordan Spieth finished T7 for his third top 10 of the season in 16 starts, third straight. It’s the first time the 11-time TOUR winner has recorded three straight top 10s since five straight that encompassed the end of the 2017 season and the beginning of the 2018 season.

3: Kaymer’s solo 3^rd was his first top 10 since T4 at the 2017 Honda 31 starts ago. The two-time major winner also records his first top 3 since a wire-to-wire win at the 2014 U.S. Open 62 starts and 1,813 days ago.

30: The last time 54-hole leader Kaymer was in the top 10 after 54 holes was the 2017 Honda 30 starts ago, where he was T3 and finished T4 – which was also his last top 10 on TOUR.

4: With rounds of 68-69-68-64, Cantlay was the only player to record all four rounds in the 60s.

5: Cantlay is the second player this season to finish in the top 10 in all 5 strokes gained: sub-categories, but first in an event with a cut. Xander Schauffele accomplished it at the 33-man Sentry TOC back in January. Prior to that, the last player was Dustin Johnson at the 34-man 2018 Sentry TOC.

88: In fact, in the last 88 events utilizing ShotLink (dating to the beginning of the 2016-17 season), those are the only three players that have done it. Again, however, for emphasis, Cantlay is the only one to do it in an event with a cut (field size: 120).

64: Cantlay’s closing 64 was the lowest final-round score by a winner in the 44-year history of the event, previously 65 by three players.

9: Five-time past champ Tiger Woods backdoored a T9 (70-72-70-67) for his 9^th top 10 in 17 tries, tied-most in tourney history (with Jay Haas). Further, it was his 13^th top 25, second straight, and has never missed the cut at the Memorial. After a MC at the PGA two weeks ago, this was his second attempt to tie Sam Snead’s record of 82 TOUR wins.

11: Matt Kuchar has now led the FEC standings for 11 weeks this season, including the last 10 weeks consecutive. He MC’d this week (by two), just his second MC at the Memorial in 14 tries, first since 2003.

19.22: Cantlay’s 19.22 SG: Total was the second-highest SG: TTL of the season behind DJ’s 20.43 at the WGC-Mexico.

25: Of the 25 Memorial first-timers, the best finish was T27 on 4-under 284 (69-69-72-74) by 2016 Masters champ Danny Willett, who was T10 thru 36 holes.

31: Streelman’s solo 4^th is his first top 5 since T4 at the OHL Classic in November, 2016, 31 months and 69 starts ago.

2,108,091: With $2.1M in earnings in three appearances, Cantlay is now averaging $702,697 in the event, including a $1.64M haul this week. He entered ranked 80^th in all-time earnings at the Memorial and now slots 6^th. Woods remained No. 1 with $5.37M (17 starts) for an average of $316,070.

42: When Cantlay won his first TOUR event at the 2018 Shriners, it moved him from 67 in OWGR to a then-career-high 42^nd. He’s up to a career-high 8^th now.

Cantlay’s TOUR Career:

Starts: 78

Cuts Made: 63 (80.7%)

Top 25s: 40 (51.2%)

Top 10s: 21 (26.9%)

Top 3s: 7 (8.9%)

Wins: 2 (2.56%)

Wins (by season):

2019: 1 (Memorial)

2018: 1 (Shriners)

2017: 0

Note: In 2017, which due to prior injury ended up being his “official” rookie campaign, Cantlay made the cut in all 13 starts with eight top 25s and four top 10s, including runner-up at the Valspar, which fulfilled the terms of a Major Medical Extension that dated back to 2013-14 season. Was one of two rookies (Xander Schauffele) to qualify for the season-ending TOUR Championship – won by Schauffele – where he finished T20 (of 30) on even-par 280 (74-66-71-69).

Cantlay’s Q&A:

Q: Matt Minister is from here. Does that add anything to the glow of this victory for you?

A: Matt does such a great job making everything easy for me out there. We have a great relationship on and off the course. And he’s a great caddie…and I know he feels at home here, being an Ohio State guy and growing up here, too.

Q: Did you think after you won in Vegas – were you expecting the floodgates, I hate that phrase, but –

A: Yeah, I really did. I didn’t think it would take me this long (19 months). But I’ve had a really – I’ve played a lot of really good golf, a lot of really solid golf. And so, I think I was closer that it seems. So maybe this one will do it.

Cantlay’s Position by Round:

R1: T8 (3 back)

R2: T5 (2 back)

R3: T3 (4 back)

Leader/co-leaders by Round:

R1: Ryan Moore (finished T33): Drops to 2-for-8 as 18-hole leader/co-leader

R2: Troy Merritt (T17): Drops to 1-for-3 as 36-hole leader/co-leader

R2: Kyoung-Hoon Lee (T37): Drops to 0-for-1

R2: Martin Kaymer (3^rd): Drops to 2-for-3

R3: Martin Kaymer (3^rd): Drops to 2-for-3 as 54-hole leader/co-leader

Note: Prior to Kaymer, the last four events this season were won by a 54-hole leader/co-leader: Kevin Na, Charles Schwab Challenge; Brooks Koepka, PGA; Sung Kang, AT&T Byron Nelson; Max Homa, Wells Fargo.

Cantlay at the Memorial:

Starts: 3

Cuts Made: 3

Top 25s: 2

Top 10s: 2

Top 5s: 2

Wins: 1

Memorial Form: 1-4-35

Note: Cantlay’s T35 on debut in 2017 was good for low-rookie honors (of six)

Strength of Field:

With a Strength of Field rating of 596 (down 56 from last year), Cantlay banks 68.00 world-ranking points:

OWGR: From 15 to career-high 8^th (up 7)

Note: This is Cantlay’s first time in the top 10 in OWGR.

FedExCup: From 12 to 6^th (up 6)

Note: Career-high FEC rank is 3^rd after the 2018 Shriners win.

Field Scoring Average:

This was the 44^th Memorial, all 44 at Muirfield Village:

Par 72 (36-36)

7,392 yards

R1: 72.56

R2: 71.75

R3: 71.80

R4: 72.12

Total: 72.08

Cantlay: 68-69-68-64

SG: Total: 19.22

Low Rounds:

R1: 65: Ryan Moore

R2: 63: Justin Rose

R3: 64: Hideki Matsuyama

R4: 64: Patrick Cantlay

Note: Cantlay’s previous best (in 12 rounds) at Muirfield Village was 66 in R3 last year. He’s now recorded nine straight sub-par rounds and 11 laps of par or better.

Bogey-free Rounds:

R1: (3): Ryan Moore (65); Bud Cauley (67); Xander Schauffele (69)

R2: (3): Brian Stuard (65); Kyoung-Hoon Lee (67); Kevin Streelman (68)

R3: (3): Hideki Matsuyama (64); Martin Kaymer (66); Aaron Baddeley (68)

R4: (2): Patrick Cantlay (64); Bryson DeChambeau (66)

Multiple Bogey-free Rounds: NONE