ATLANTA (AP) — Patrick Cantlay delivered the goods again, this time with a 6-iron instead of a putter.
“Patty Ice” was just a clutch with a $15 million shot that allowed him to hold off Jon Rahm and win the FedEx Cup on Sunday.
In a tense duel with the world’s No. 1 player, Cantlay had a one-shot lead going to the par-5 18th hole at the Tour Championship when he hit 6-iron from 218 yards to just inside 12 feet that secured the biggest victory of his career.
“Felt like a huge win, and it was,” Cantlay said.
Rahm’s shot was equally special, landing next to the hole on its second bounce but rolling to the light rough beyond the green.
With Cantlay in close, the Spaniard had to hole the chip to have any chance of a playoff. He narrowly missed, and Cantlay safely two-putted for birdie and 1-under 69.
The victory was worth $15 million for Cantlay, a 29-year-old Californian whose rise in golf was slowed by a back injury that kept him out for three years and nearly ended his career.
Now he has stamped himself among the elite in golf, boosted by the FedEx Cup postseason.
Cantlay showed remarkable grit in surviving a six-hole playoff to beat Bryson DeChambeau in the BMW Championship last week to take the No. 1 seed and a two-shot lead to start the Tour Championship. He never flinched over four days at East Lake.
Rahm, who started the tournament four shots behind and went into the final day two back, never caught Cantlay. He never let him breathe easy, either.
Cantlay took a two-shot lead with an approach to 6 feet for birdie on the 17th hole, and then nearly lost it all. He drove to the right on the 17th, clipping a tree and dropping down into deep rough, and then hit a flyer over the green and the gallery. His pitch back to the green came up short and into more deep rough, and he had to make a 6-footer to save bogey and stay ahead.
With Rahm well down the 18th fairway, Cantlay hit his best drive of the day, rolling out 361 yards that set up a 6-iron he felt he needed to hit close.
Rahm was bogey-free over the last 28 holes, but he only cashed in on two birdies. He closed with a 68 and tied with Kevin Na for the 72-hole score of the tournament at 14-under 266. They will split points toward the world ranking.
Cantlay started at 10-under par and finished at 21 under.
Rahm earned the $5 million consolation prize for finishing second in the FedEx Cup, while Na (67) picked up $4 million. Justin Thomas (70) birdied the last hole to finish fourth, which was worth $4 million.
This was more than about money for Cantlay.
He won for the fourth time this season — one of those at the Memorial, when Rahm had to withdraw after building a six-shot lead after 54 holes because of a positive COVID-19 test results — and no one else won more than twice.
That figures to make him a front-runner for PGA Tour player of the year, with Rahm (U.S. Open title, No. 1 ranking) and Collin Morikawa (British Open, World Golf Championship title), also likely to be on the ballot.
Molinari to miss Ryder Cup
GUIDONIA MONTECELIO, Italy (AP) — The man who contributed the most to Europe’s team in the 2018 Ryder Cup triumph will almost certainly be missing from this month’s competition at Whistling Straits, Wisconsin.
Still recovering from a back problem that kept him out of this year’s PGA Championship and Tokyo Olympics, Francesco Molinari all but officially withdrew himself from consideration on Padraig Harrington’s team.
“I don’t think there’s any hope. I don’t even want to consider it with the condition that I’m in,” Molinari told The Associated Press after a 52nd-place finish at his home Italian Open on Sunday. “I don’t think I would be useful to the team so it’s better if someone in better form goes.”
Molinari’s form is far from his sterling performance at Le Golf National in France three years ago, when he became the first European, and second player overall in the competition’s current format, to go 5-0 at a Ryder Cup by clinching the decisive point over Phil Mickelson.
In 2018, Molinari teamed with close friend Tommy Fleetwood to win four points in fourballs and foursomes matches in a partnership that was labeled “Moliwood.”
Molinari and Fleetwood played in the same grouping for the opening two rounds this week but their performances stood in sharp contrast.
Fleetwood ended the tournament in a tie for second behind Danish winner Nicolai Højgaard.
So, did Molinari suggest a new partner for Fleetwood at this year’s Ryder Cup, which will be held Sept. 24-26?
“No, we didn’t talk about it,” Molinari said. “We talked about other things, as you do between friends. We see each other often.”
But Molinari did suggest that this week could serve as practice for a “Moliwood” revival at the 2023 Ryder Cup, which will be held at the Marco Simone club just outside Rome that hosted this weekend’s tournament.
“Let’s hope so,” the 2018 British Open champion said. “Let’s hope we can both qualify next time.”
The completely redesigned Marco Simone course was tested for the first time this week.
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