Resurgent Second Round Lifts Patrick Cantlay Into Top 10 at The Open
Patrick Cantlay is officially contending for a major title.
The UCLA men's golf alumnus has won seven events on the PGA Tour since turning pro and leaving Westwood 10 years ago, but he has built somewhat of a reputation for falling short on the biggest stages. Cantlay is challenging that label overseas, as he shot a 5-under 67 in the second round of The Open Championship at The Old Course on Friday.
After finishing Thursday at 2-under tied for 27th, Cantlay is 7-under through the first 36 holes, now in a four-way tie for sixth. Australia's Cameron Smith is currently the leader at 11-under, four strokes up on Cantlay.
Cantlay's second round was a mirror of his first, when he was 1-over through six holes and shot even par on the front nine. This time around, Cantlay opened his day red hot.
After coming 1 foot away from sinking a birdie putt on one, Cantlay birdied two and three – the latter of which he bogeyed Thursday. Cantlay's approaches on both of those holes wound up 5 and 7 feet from the cup, despite coming from 162 and 116 yards out, respectively.
Cantlay then went on to birdie every other hole for the rest of the front nine, all while avoiding bogeys. He nearly sank an 80-foot eagle putt on the par five fifth hole, then cleaned up for birdie.
A 22-foot putt on seven led to another birdie, and after driving the green on nine, he came a few feet away from sinking a 35-foot eagle putt.
That left Cantlay at 5-under through nine holes, and 7-under through 27 for the week.
The second half of his mirror performance meant that, like he was on the front Thursday, Cantlay was even on the back Friday.
Cantlay went for four consecutive pars before a birdie on the par five 14th, then he added on back-to-back pars on 15 and 16. Instead of heading into the clubhouse with a perfectly clean round, though, Cantlay's second shot on 17 came up well short of the green and he wound up with a bogey.
A 24-foot birdie putt on 18 nearly wiped out that mistake, but Cantlay missed by a few feet and had to settle for par.
The mundane back nine didn't cost Cantlay much thanks to his near-perfect front nine, and he is on pace for his best career finish at The Open, which was previously a tie for 12th in 2018. Cantlay isn't far off from his best overall major finish either – a tie for third place at the 2019 PGA Championship.
Cantlay has not finished in the top 10 at a major since that tournament over three years ago.
The UCLA Athletics Hall of Fame class of 2022 inductee will tee off his third round Saturday. His tee time is to be determined.
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