Clutch Putting delivered the Win

PATRICK CANTLAY DELIVERS CLUTCH PUTTING FOR SIGNATURE WIN

No one ever questioned that Patrick Cantlay had the chops to be among golf’s elite.

What he might have lacked in number of PGA Tour victories, he made for it with the way he won or the field he beat. His victory Sunday in the BMW Championship — the fifth of his career and his PGA Tour-leading third of the season — was a little of each.

On a Caves Valley course that suited the biggest hitters, facing the biggest masher of them all in Bryson DeChambeau, he delivered a moment that will be remembered for the ice in his veins and nerves of steel.

He really only smiled after he made the last of six pivotal putts on the final nine holes — six of them in a sudden-death playoff.

“I’m just as focused as I can be. If I look the way I do, it’s because I am locked in and focused,” Cantlay said. “And I felt like that today.”

Even more remarkable is that Cantlay had plenty of occasions to believe he wouldn’t be winning the BMW Championship, yet it only crossed his mind once.

That came on the second playoff hole when he hit his approach heavy and came up 55 feet short of the hole. DeChambeau, who had a 30-yard advantage off the tee on the 18th hole, hit wedge into 6 feet.

“I liked Bryson’s chances of making that 6-footer up the hill,” Cantlay said. “I thought he was going to make that putt. That was maybe the only time that I really thought I was done. But he didn’t make it. That’s golf.”

As for the other times? Right when Cantlay looked to be done, he was clutch.

DeChambeau took a one-shot lead on the par-5 16th with a 12-foot putt, and Cantlay still faced an 8-foot par putt to avoid falling two behind. He made it.

On the next hole, Cantlay’s tee shot bounced short and right and into the water, with DeChambeau in the rough just short of the green, about 25 feet from the hole. Cantlay removed his cap and slowly tugged it over his head. Surely, it was over.

But then DeChambeau muffed his chip and missed his 12-footer for par. Cantlay hit lob wedge from 100 yards away in the drop area and slid in the bogey-saving putt from 8 feet.

“I got to thinking, ‘Let’s try and make 4 here and at least not take all the pressure off of him.’ We both had 4s on that hole, and that really kept me in the golf tournament, kind of switched the momentum a little bit,” Cantlay said. “It would have been almost insurmountable if I would have went down two going into 18.”

The biggest was the 20-foot birdie putt he made on the 18th in regulation, the only reason he got into a playoff with a 6-under 66 to match DeChambeau’s score for the round and the astounding total of 27-under 261.

And even then, there was no relief.

Cantlay missed the 18th green to the left in the playoff and had to make a 6-footer for par to extend the playoff. He made the 7-footer on the next hole. And on the fifth extra hole, DeChambeau looked like a winner again when he hit wedge to 6 feet.

Cantlay hit 8-iron to 2 feet. On they went until Cantlay ended it with his 18-foot birdie putt, two fist pumps as he walked to the hole and perhaps his biggest of five victories.

He won earlier this season at the Zozo Championship in California, making up a four-shot deficit to beat Justin Thomas and Jon Rahm. He won the Memorial for a second time in early June with a 25-foot birdie putt on the 17th hole that led to a playoff win over Collin Morikawa.

This was special, and a couple of fans spotted it from outside the ropes by shouting out to him, “Patty Ice.”

He was ice, all right.

DeChambeau was anything but that. He had four putts to win, three of them in the playoff, and the biggest miss was the last one from inside 10 feet that would have extended the playoff.

Knowing exactly what went wrong will have to wait. DeChambeau, who has refused to speak to media except for PGA Tour broadcast partners, chose not to speak to anyone Sunday.

It wasn’t the only time he appeared bothered. He rolled his eyes each time Cantlay marked a short par putt along the front nine (sometimes that reference to “ice” could also mean “glacier”). And then on the 14th hole as DeChambeau was preparing to hit, he backed off and said, “Patrick, can you stop walking?”

“We had just been told by the rules officials to kind of speed up, and I’m not always the fastest walker, so I was trying to get ahead and do my part,” Cantlay said. “No big deal.”

Winning was a big deal. It moved him to the top of the FedEx Cup going to the Tour Championship, meaning he starts with at two-shot lead. He earned the final spot on the Ryder Cup team.

He can attribute that to clutch putts, even if Cantlay couldn’t identify the biggest one.

“They all mattered, I guess, the same,” he said. “I needed all of them.”

SOURCE: foxsports.com

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Finally Finau

Tony Finau ends victory drought in playoff over Cameron Smith

Finau also had to hold off Jon Rahm, currently the best player in the world, to pick up the win

There are a number of ways Tony Finau’s run of 143 consecutive tournaments since his last victory could have ended, but few would have been as meaningful as how he won The Northern Trust on Monday at Liberty National Golf Club. Finau took down one of the best PGA Tour fields in the last decade and held off the hottest player in the world — who also happens to be the No. 1 player in the world — in the process. And he did it all in a playoff.

Finau bookended his win at the Puerto Rico Open, which was being played opposite a WGC event, 1,975 days ago with a one-hole playoff win over Cameron Smith after firing a 65 in a postponed final round. Both Finau and Smith ended regulation at 20 under while Jon Rahm, currently No. 1 in the world and on one of the great heaters of his career, faded to 18 under to lose a tournament he led for four and a half straight days.

Finau’s closing kick was magnificent. He shot a 30 on the back nine that included a 3-foot eagle and three other birdies. It almost got away from him on the final hole when his approach shot came up short in a bunker, but he put a 6-footer right in the heart and got into a playoff with Smith that ended about 5 seconds after it began when Smith blasted his tee shot out of bounds. Finau made a straightforward par, and five years’ worth of murmuring about his ability to shut down events was silenced.

It was not unwarranted, either. Finau had finished in the top 10 at PGA Tour events 39 times since his win at the 2016 Puerto Rico Open. According to a Data Golf tool that measures how a player performs under pressure in final rounds, Finau would have been expected to win 3.8 times based on how he entered final rounds since the start of 2015. His Sunday performances dropped that expected value down to 2.6. That’s not great, especially since he won just one of them.

That’s all over now, though, and there are multiple nails in the coffin. The first is holding off Rahm. The second is doing it with a monster close. The third is shutting it down in an event that had one of the strongest fields of the last decade.

“All I know is I’m a lot different player than I was then,” said Finau of going over five years between victories. “I’m a lot better player and I feel like it’s been a long time coming, but I also feel like you have to earn everything out here. Nothing’s given to you and I was able to earn this win, and you know, hopefully the future continues to be bright. I’m playing some great golf. We’ve got two big tournaments in front of me, so I’m going to enjoy this one. I’m playing great golf. I feel like I can go on a run, so why not continue right on to next week.”

SOURCE: cbssports.com

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Great Wins this Week in Golf

What a weekend in the world of golf!

A six man playoff at the Wyndham Championship, a new US Amateur showing what he’s got, a low round of 64 at the Shaw Charity Classic and a Veteran LPGA player takes the trophy at the Scottish Open. Read all about these amazing wins.

Kevin Kisner wins record-tying 6-man playoff at Wyndham Championship

Kevin Kisner finally broke his playoff drought to win the Wyndham Championship. He hopes the victory will help him achieve another milestone: representing the United States in the Ryder Cup.

Kisner struck his approach to 3 feet on the 18th hole at Sedgefield and made the putt to win a record-tying six-man playoff on Sunday.

The 37-year-old Kisner, an excellent putter who now has four PGA Tour wins, has never qualified or been selected to represent the U.S. in the biennial matches against Europe. American captain Steve Stricker will make six picks after the Tour Championship, and Kisner says he has at least put himself in the mix.

“To be standing here is pretty sweet,” said Kisner, who had been 0-5 in playoffs.

>> READ MORE

James Piot rallies on back nine to win U.S. Amateur over Austin Greaser

Even for James Piot, the scrappy Michigan kid who isn’t afraid to set the bar high, his target Sunday in the U.S. Amateur was bordering on audacious.

He was 3 down and running out of time.

Standing on the 10th tee, Piot set a goal of playing the back nine at 4 under par. This was at Oakmont, as fearsome as any course in America, where the greens reputed to be the fastest in the land had been triple cut. More holes were won with pars than birdies.

Piot was up to the task. Starting with a 9-iron to 3 feet for birdie, he won four straight holes to take the lead over Austin Greaser and closed out his stunning rally with a 20-foot par putt that sent him to a 2-and-1 victory.

“It’s the greatest feeling in the world,” Piot said. “As an amateur, it’s the best thing you can do.”

>> READ MORE

Doug Barron cards third straight 64 to win Shaw Charity Classic by 2 strokes

Doug Barron birdied the final three holes for his third straight 6-under 64 and a two-stroke victory Sunday in the PGA Tour Champions’ Shaw Charity Classic.

The 52-year-old Barron also eagled the par-5 11th in a back-nine 30 at Canyon Meadows. He also won the 2019 Dick’s Sporting Goods Open.

“Winning, losing, unfortunately, there’s only one winner every week and we don’t get it very often,” Barron said “So, when you do it, you should enjoy it. I knew when I made that putt on 18 no one could beat me.”

>> READ MORE

LPGA veteran Ryann O’Toole wins her first Women’s Scottish Open

Ryann O’Toole won her first LPGA Tour event in 228 starts, closing with a bogey-free 8-under 64 at Dumbarnie Links for a three-shot victory in the Trust Golf Women’s Scottish Open on Sunday.

After tapping in for a closing par, the 34-year-old O’Toole was showered with champagne and greeted with a kiss by her fiancee, Gina Marra.

“I still feel like I’m in shock and the tears are going to come later when things die down,” O’Toole said. “I’m excited and happy. The hours and grind and heartache this sport brings, the constant travel, for this moment, I hope it only happens again and again.”

>> READ MORE

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SOURCE: espn.com

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Spieth has been a phoenix rising

Jordan Spieth is back to playing near his apex despite most efforts not culminating in victories

Spieth has been outrageously good, statistically speaking, despite being eluded by victories

Golf is both humorous and cruel. It is funny and wicked. It giveth and it taketh away. Take Jordan Spieth’s 2021. Since his 61 on Saturday during the Phoenix Open in February at TPC Scottsdale, Spieth has been a phoenix rising — from nearly outside the top 100 in the world to the precipice of the top 10 — from the ashes. However, in one of the great statistical years of his career, he still has just one win to show for his efforts. Golf is both rewarding and elusive.

The numbers are actually a bit startling. Since the calendar flipped in January, only Jon Rahm has a better overall strokes-gained number, according to Data Golf. Rahm is at 2.57 strokes gained per round, Spieth is at 2.44. Nobody else is above 2.10. You can compare this to last year (Spieth ranked No. 95) and the year before it (36th). But really, we should compare it to his two best years ever.

Spieth won five times in 2015 and three more in 2017. They were, almost without question, the best he has ever played this sport. In 2015, he gained 2.54 strokes per round. In 2017, he gained 2.47. Again, he’s at 2.44 this year. He won eight tournaments in those two years combined, and though he’s playing at nearly the exact same statistical clip this time around, the wins just have not fallen his way.

YEAR	STROKES GAINED/ROUND	STROKES GAINED (TEE TO GREEN)/ROUND	WINS
2015	2.54	1.80	5
2016	2.46	1.31	2
2017	2.47	2.03	3
2018	1.29	1.12	0
2019	0.84	-0.14	0
2020	0.20	0.54	0
2021	2.44	1.75	1

There have been near misses. After winning the Texas Open in April, he finished T3 at the Masters, solo second at the Charles Schwab Challenge and solo second at the Open Championship. He has not finished worse than 30th in a tournament since the Players Championship concluded in March, and his top-10 percentage in that span is 75%.

To indicate how thin the margin between wins and losses is, though, consider how his Open Championship ended. Spieth missed a putt on No. 18 in Round 3 from a jaw-dropping distance. The PGA Tour make percentage from where his putt was from (around 3 feet) is 95%. On Sunday at Royal St. George’s, Collin Morikawa made an equally shocking birdie putt on the par-5 14th hole from around 25 feet. The make percentage from there is 10%.

If you do the math on those two independent events going the exact way they did, there was a 0.5% chance of them both happening. Conversely, there was an 85% chance of them both going the other way, which would have been a two-stroke swing and led to a playoff.

That’s not to denigrate what Morikawa did. He made the putts while Spieth did not. It’s simply depicting just how preposterously tiny the difference between winning a tournament and not winning a tournament actually is. When you look at it from that angle, it’s actually pretty easy to see how you could have such a similar statistical campaign and win only 20% or 33% of the tournaments you won in prior years.

The numbers paint a picture that wins might be about to fall for Spieth. Or they may not be, which is the entire point I’m trying to make here. It’s also worth noting with Spieth that his Sunday scoring average is not what it should be. He’s in the top 50 on the PGA Tour in the first three rounds this season but 124th in Round 4. That is certainly a big variable when it comes to looking at his season-long quest to shut down tournaments.

Who has had a better year than Spieth? Jon Rahm and Collin Morikawa, certainly. Perhaps Louis Oosthuizen, as well. After that? I suppose you could throw Phil Mickelson and Hideki Matsuyama at it since they both won majors, but overall Spieth has been so much better than both of them. He has, nearly unquestionably, been one of the five best golfers in the world so far in 2021.

He’s giving himself real chances to win golf tournaments, which was not the case for most of the last three years. That’s the fun part, both for him and for those who enjoy the angsty carnival ride he ushers folks onto during the weekend at these events. He’s also played himself onto the Ryder Cup team and has set up a 2022 in which we can reasonably project him as a legitimate threat at every tournament in which he plays.

That has not been the case for a while (though I still tried to will it into existence!). Though Spieth’s season has not culminated in many updates to the Wikipedia page that tracks his wins, he’s playing at the Spieth-ian level we grew accustomed to early in his career, and that means the payoff is almost certainly coming.

SOURCE: cbssports.com

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USA takes the Gold

Xander Schauffele wins gold medal with clutch finish at The Olympics

KAWAGOE, Japan — Xander Schauffele won an Olympic gold medal he badly wanted by overcoming more pressure than he could have imagined Sunday.

Right when Schauffele appeared to lose his firm grip on the gold, the 27-year-old American responded with two clutch putts at the end for a 4-under 67 and a one-shot victory over Rory Sabbatini of Slovakia in a wild finish to the men’s golf competition.

One was a 6-foot birdie putt for the lead. The last one was a 4-foot par putt for the win.

“Just in shock,” Schauffele said. “I was trying so hard to just stay calm. … But man, it was stressful. And I made that putt and it was just a huge weight lifted off my shoulders and just very relieved and happy.”

The tension made the hot air feel even thicker at Kasumigaseki Country Club. When the last group walked onto the 18th green, nine players remained in the mix for a medal.

One of them was Masters champion Hideki Matsuyama, just not the medal that his golf-mad country wanted for him. He was one shot out of the lead when he missed a 3-foot par putt on the 15th hole and never caught up. He missed a 12-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole for the bronze.

And then he left with no medal at all.

Matsuyama was part of a seven-man playoff for the bronze, which included Rory McIlroy and Open Championship winner Collin Morikawa. Matsuyama made bogey on the first extra hole and was eliminated, ending a week of high expectations.

No gold, silver or bronze. The 29-year-old Japanese star still has a Masters green jacket.

C.T. Pan of Taiwan, who closed with a 63, won the bronze in a playoff among seven countries that lasted four holes.

Matsuyama and Paul Casey were eliminated with bogeys on the first extra hole. McIlroy, Mito Pereira of Chile and Sebastian Munoz were eliminated with pars on the third hole. Pan holed an 8-foot par putt on the 18th, after Morikawa’s approach plugged in the sand short of the green and left him a long par putt he couldn’t convert.

Schauffele, whose mother was raised in Japan and has grandparents in the city who were kept from watching him under the ban on spectators, appeared to have this won all along.

Sabbatini set the Olympic record with a 61, finishing with a fist-pumping birdie on the 18th hole. That put him one shot behind Schauffele, who still had two good scoring chances among the six holes ahead of him on the back nine.

And then one swing changed everything.

Schauffele sent his tee shot well right of the fairway on the par-5 14th and into the bushes. He had to take a one-shot penalty just to get out, took three more shots to reach the green and made a 5-foot putt to limit the damage to a bogey.

He was tied for the lead, with Matsuyama one shot behind.

Schauffele kept his California cool and hit driver into a greenside bunker on the 17th hole, where the tees were moved forward to create some excitement. He blasted out to 6 feet and made birdie to regain the lead.

One par for the gold. If only it were that simple.

Schauffele sent another drive to the right, getting a nice kick into the rough but blocked by the trees, forcing him to lay up short of the water. From 98 yards, he hit a lob wedge some 15 feet behind the pin and watched it spin back to 4 feet.

He looked more relieved than he was elated after the putt dropped. It was his first victory since January 2019, and the No. 5 player in the world found the ideal place to end the drought.

Schauffele had been pointing to the Olympics, especially in Tokyo, ever since he first joined the elite in American golf three years ago. His German-born father, Stefan, had dreamed of being an Olympian until his car was struck by a drunk driver on his way to decathlon training when he was 20, costing him his left eye.

Peering through his monocular, Stefan Schauffele saw his dreams fulfilled through his son.

The embrace they shared afterward was pure gold.

“To have my dad here as well is really special,” Schauffele said. “I gave him a hug off the back of the green there. I know this means a lot to him, so I’m just happy to sort of deliver this.”

Sabbatini had plenty to be happy about with silver. Born in South Africa, he decided at the end of 2018 to become a Slovakian citizen through his wife, Martina, who had a relative running the tiny Slovak Golf Federation. His wife caddied for him this week.

That made him eligible for the Olympics, and now Slovakia has its third medal in the Tokyo Games. It has a gold in women’s trap and a silver in men’s kayak. Sabbatini is the first Slovakian to compete in Olympic golf.

“The sole purpose of it was to generate future generations of Slovak golfers,” Sabbatini said. “It’s not exactly the prime sport for kids to grow up and want to go play in Slovakia, so hopefully we can inspire future Olympians.”

SOURCE: pgatour.com

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