Patrick Cantlay Comes Out of Shell, Helps Team USA Best Europe at Ryder Cup
After nailing a birdie putt from across the green to take the lead Saturday morning, Patrick Cantlay gave a fist bump and briefly made a motion to pump up the crowd.
The NBC announcers joked about the reaction from the normally subdued golfer, who has gained somewhat of a reputation for being a bit reserved with his emotions. That has earned Cantlay the nicknames "The Ice Man" and "Patty Ice," and he held that title even as he racked up win after win on the PGA Tour over the past month.
But the Ryder Cup is a whole other animal, and that was only the beginning of the fun for Cantlay.
The former UCLA men's golfer was fully embracing the raucous environment at Whistling Straits by the time Sunday rolled around, as Team USA pulled away from Europe to win the 2020 Ryder Cup 19-9. The home crowd cheered Cantlay on all the way through his 4-and-2 singles win over Shane Lowry, sinking putt after putt and garnering even more applause as the day continued.
On the sixth green, Cantlay hit a putt from less than 6 feet out to win his fourth consecutive hole, again accenting it with a fist pump and raising his putter to the stands.
Cantlay wasn't satisfied, though, and he yelled at the crowd and put his hand up to his ear asking for more.
The burst of emotions from the 29-year-old capped off a big weekend for America's next wave of younger golfers.
Collin Morikawa, 24, and Scottie Scheffler, 25, both won their singles matches against Viktor Hovland and Jon Rahm, respectively. After his day was done, Cantlay said this was the start of a bright new future for Team USA.
"This is definitely different," Cantlay said. "I mean, I woke up this morning and I was trying to tell the guys, 'This is going to be the next era of the Ryder Cup team for the US side.' We have a lot of young guys, and I think they are going to be on teams for a long time."
Cantlay entered the Ryder Cup having won the final two events of the 2020-2021 PGA Tour season, the BMW Championship and TOUR Championship, to secure the FedEx Cup and PGA Player of the Year.
Over the weekend in Wisconsin, Cantlay recorded 0.5 points for Team USA in four-ball, 2 points in foursomes and 1 point in singles. Cantlay tied Morikawa for second-most points made with 3.5, only behind Dustin Johnson's 5.
Cantlay now sits at No. 4 in the Official World Golf Rankings heading into the 2021-2022 season, a full decade removed from his playing days at UCLA.
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