Cantlay is back as a contender at the Masters

By Art Spander

The same guys seem to play well there every year. Patrick Cantlay said it about the Masters. He meant people like Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson and Dustin Johnson.

He could have included someone else: himself.

Cantlay briefly was in the final-round lead a year ago after an eagle at the 15^th. A couple of bogies and that celebrated win by Tiger all but chased him out of our memories.

Now, two rounds into this ’20 Masters, Cantlay’s back, and very much so.

The leaders, four people including Johnson, Justin Thomas — two of the same guys — Abraham Ancer and Cameron Smith (who are new guys), were tied for the temporary 36-hole lead at 9-under-par 135. Temporary because the second round wasn’t concluded.

Cantlay, whose 66 shared Friday’s low round, was a shot behind for 36 holes, at 136. He needed nine holes Friday morning to complete the first round that was unfinished Thursday, and then he played another 18. Phew.

“Today was a long day,” he said, as if one that began on the course at 7:30 a.m. and ended in late afternoon could be anything else.

It also was a successful day, if a bit nerve-wracking. The first time around, his second shot to the 15^th landed on the crest of a slope and trickled into the water.

“I got up and down for a par 5,” said a relieved Cantlay, “which was pretty big at the time.”

In the afternoon he birdied the hole, just missing an eagle attempt.

Cantlay is 28. His background is the stuff of movie plots, perhaps appropriate for a native southern Californian. While at UCLA in 2011, he was the world’s No. 1 amateur. He went pro and first incurred a stress fracture in his back, then became despondent after his caddy, a long-time friend, was struck fatally by a hit-and-run driver in Newport Beach near where Cantlay stood.

“For a while, I could care less about everything,” Cantlay told the Santa Ana Register. “Not just golf, everything ... Nothing felt like it mattered.”

Certainly golf matters now. He won the Zozo tournament, his third Tour victory, at Sherwood outside Los Angeles, his home area, three weeks ago. And while he said that is a confidence boost, he tries not to get too emotional. Even about his chances at the Masters.

“I do everything in a stoic way,” said Cantlay. ”I don’t work on it too much. If anything, I work on trying to smile a little more. I’m just kind of naturally that way. I’m that way when I eat breakfast. I’m that way when I play cards. That’s who I am.” 

That works for both cards and golf, of course. Don’t show how you feel, until the end. Don’t get rattled or excited.

Ben Hogan would have approved. The great Hogan rarely changed expression on the course. Golf was serious labor to Ben, as it is to Cantlay.

“I enjoy it out there,” said Cantlay. “Golf is what I love to do. But I’m just as focused as I can on doing the best I can.”

He should be pleased, then, to know that in the last four rounds played in the Masters, of the players on the leaderboard, he’s been the best, at 20 under par.

“I think part of that,” he said about the achievement, “is you just get good feelings here, and you come back every year. I’m just trying to build those good feelings.”

Construction is nearly complete.

“I think for the most part my game plan hasn’t changed much,” said Cantlay, “but just feeling comfortable and getting some momentum around here ... Some good stuff was coming, and it did at the Zozo.

“Hopefully there’s still more to come.”