Late Birdie Helps UCLA Alum Patrick Cantlay Make Cut at US Open
With his survival at The Country Club coming down to the final few holes, the top Bruin on the tour pulled through to stay alive for the rest of the weekend.
UCLA men's golf alumnus Patrick Cantlay was in the top 10 midway through Thursday's opening round at the 122nd US Open. A pair of bogeys on the back nine pushed him into the middle of the pack, though, and two double bogeys in Friday's second round nearly knocked him out of the field altogether.
Cantlay stepped up to the eighth tee box with two holes left in his round, and he strung together a birdie that kept him from missing the cut for the second-straight major after he failed to make it at the PGA Championship in May.
The reigning PGA Tour Player of the Year and FedEx Cup champion nearly closed things out with a second-straight birdie, but his putt was 1 foot off and he would have to clean up for par. Cantlay ended the round with a 1-over 71, finishing the first two days eight strokes back of the leaders and tied for 53rd at 3 over par – the exact cut line he needed to reach in order to play through the totality of the tournament.
Cantlay got started on the back nine Friday after playing the course in order Thursday. Like he did in the first round, Cantlay scored par on 10 and 11, but he had a change of fate on 12 the second time around.
Starting things off with a 328-yard drive, Cantlay then found himself 10 feet from the hole following his approach. Cantlay sank the birdie putt to get down to 1-over on the tournament, and his chances of making the cut suddenly climbed to 83.9% – his best mark of the week.
The changes didn't stop there for Cantlay, though, and the next one didn't work in the former Bruin's favor. After saving par on 13 on Thursday, Cantlay double-bogeyed it Friday thanks to a handful of mishaps around the green.
A bogey on 15 dropped Cantlay to 4-over, and just four holes after being in a comfortable spot on the leaderboards, his chances of making the cut had dropped all the way down to 51.5%.
Cantlay then did what he was unable to do Thursday, birdieying 17 and 18 to keep his round alive. After making par on 1 and 2, Cantlay's chance of making the cut hit a new peak at 90.4%.
It took all of one hole for him to wipe out that progress.
Cantlay's tee shot went left on 3, and he was unable to escape the rough on his second shot. A two-putt made it a double bogey, and just moments after he was well on his way to clinching a tee time for Saturday, Cantlay was one stroke below the projected cut line.
A par on 4 and birdie on 5 – set up by a 300-yard drive that reached the front of the green – had Cantlay trending in the right direction momentarily, only for him to go into a bunker and two-putt on 6 for a bogey.
All of a sudden, Cantlay needed to birdie one of the final three holes without stumbling into a bogey if he wanted to stay in Boston another few days. Cantlay had an 18-foot birdie putt on 7, but it came just a foot away from going down and the pressure was shifted to 8 and 9.
Cantlay birdied 8 and two-putted for par on 9, so he did just enough to keep his title hopes alive. Both of the other top-25 golfers in Cantlay's grouping – Billy Horschel and Daniel Berger – missed the cut, as did Sergio Garcia, Tony Finau, Victor Hovland and several other superstars.
Kevin Chappell was the other former UCLA standout in the field, but he missed the cut and will not play in the final two rounds. After shooting a 3-over 73 on Thursday, Chappell shot a 76 on Friday and finished at 9-over. In a field of 156, Chappell tied for 126th.
That was, however, enough for Chappell to best Phil Mickelson, who finished at 11-over after months of controversy surrounding his decision to join the LIV Golf tour in favor of the PGA.
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