OWINGS MILLS, Md. – If we needed final confirmation that Patrick Cantlay was a stone-cold killer on the golf course, we got it Sunday.
Locked in a low-scoring battle with big, bad Bryson DeChambeau, Cantlay went toe to toe with the bruising bomber on a course seemingly tailormade for the longest of balls. For 72 holes. And for six more, before Cantlay finally delivered the crushing blow by coolly rolling in a 20-foot birdie putt on the 18th green to win the BMW Championship.
What Cantlay has done in his three victories this season is downright scary – if you’re Team Europe, that is; Cantlay’s victory locked him up the sixth automatic spot on the U.S. Ryder Cup team.
Last fall, Cantlay fired a closing 65 to storm past Justin Thomas and Jon Rahm at the Zozo Championship, and earlier this summer he took down ball-striking superstar Collin Morikawa in a playoff at the Memorial. Now, he can add DeChambeau to his list of big game.
No wonder they call him “Patty Ice.”
Well, at least some people did prior to this win.
“That’s the first time I’ve heard it, but I got it all week,” Cantlay said of his new moniker. “I think there was maybe one or two guys that followed me around maybe all four days, and they, just every hole, were screaming it.”
It fits. And so, too, does Cantlay’s new weapon of choice.
Ranked 61st on Tour in strokes gained: putting entering the BMW, Cantlay hasn’t historically been known as a guy who’s going to beat you with the flatstick. But he switched to a Scotty Cameron Phantom X 5 midway through last week’s Northern Trust, and the results were stunning.
‘Long week’ ends in playoff victory for Cantlay
“I got the magic one now,” said Cantlay, who, armed with the new putter, went out and gained 14.577 strokes on the green this week, a new ShotLink-era record.
The mark bested that of Kevin Na, who, coincidentally, did so at the 2019 Shriners Open, where he beat … Cantlay.
“Good, a little redemption then,” Cantlay said with a smirk.
It was a record-breaking kind of week at Caves Valley, which was hosting its first Tour event. Caves’ debut was the polar opposite of last year’s BMW slugfest at Olympia Fields, as Cantlay and DeChambeau became the first two players in Tour history to finish 72 holes of regulation at 27 under in the same event. And after combining for 58 birdies and five eagles (four by DeChambeau alone), neither player was going to go down without a fight.
Cantlay forced extra holes by sinking a 22-footer for birdie on the 72nd hole, a hole after he rinsed his tee ball but still saved bogey at the par-3 17th.
Yet, despite the clutch moments, his demeanor stayed stoic.
When his birdie chip on the first playoff hole caught the hole, he barely flinched. And after DeChambeau somehow saved par after driving the ball into the creek on the fourth playoff hole? The same. Even when DeChambeau flagged his tee shot on the fifth overtime hole, No. 17, Cantlay confidently put his shot inside of it before both players traded birdies.
The only time Cantlay blinked was the second playoff hole, No. 18, where DeChambeau lipped out an 8-footer to win.
Cantlay ‘stays within himself’ to win BMW playoff
“I thought he was going to make that putt,” Cantlay said. “That was maybe the only time that I really thought I was done.”
But like most killers in this game – and there are only a handful – Cantlay, though methodical with his routine, quickly regained his determination, and a few holes later he had sent DeChambeau packing.
The guy who drove it 343 yards into a greenside bunker on the opening hole on Sunday got beat by the guy who, with less firepower off the tee, wedged it to 25 feet and canned the matching birdie.
“I’m as focused as I can be on every single shot, and I try not to let my mind get past the moment that I’m in, and maybe that’s why I come across a little sedated out there,” Cantlay said. “But I’m locked in, and I’m as focused as I can be. Then I kind of let the chips fall where they do, try not to get caught up in being outdriven 45 yards or whatever it is. I just try and lock in and do my absolute best in that moment, and my best is pretty good.”
After a brief handshake between the playoff competitors, a defeated DeChambeau trudged up the hill toward the locker room, and then the parking lot. It didn’t take long before the silent one, beaten by the silent assassin, was gone.
Cantlay, meanwhile, stayed back on the final green, basking in victory and finally cracking a smile.
Patty Ice, the stone-cold killer, had done it again.
TORONTO – Reigning PWHL MVP and scoring champ Natalie Spooner will miss the start of the regular season for the Toronto Sceptres, general manager Gina Kingsbury announced Tuesday on the first day of training camp.
The 33-year-old Spooner had knee surgery on her left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) after she was checked into the boards by Minnesota’s Grace Zumwinkle in Game 3 of their best-of-five semifinal series on May 13.
She had a goal and an assist in three playoff games but did not finish the series. Toronto was up 2-1 in the semifinal at that time and eventually fell 3-2 in the series.
Spooner led the PWHL with 27 points in 24 games. Her 20 goals, including five game-winners, were nine more than the closest skater.
Kingsbury said there is no timeline, as the team wants the Toronto native at 100 per cent, but added that “she is doing really well” in her recovery.
The Sceptres open the PWHL season on Nov. 30 when they host the Boston Fleet.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 12, 2024.
LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) — A top official of the Pakistan Cricket Board declined Friday to confirm media reports that India has decided against playing any games in host Pakistan during next year’s Champions Trophy.
“My view is if there’s any problems, they (India) should tell us in writing,” PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi told reporters in Lahore. “I’ll share that with the media as well as with the government as soon as I get such a letter.”
Indian media reported Friday that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has communicated its concerns to all the Champions Trophy stakeholders, including the PCB, over the Feb. 19-March 9 tournament and would not play in arch-rival Pakistan.
The Times of India said that “Dubai is a strong candidate to host the fixtures involving the Men in Blue” for the 50-over tournament.
Such a solution would see Pakistan having to travel to a neutral venue to play India in a group match, with another potential meeting later in the tournament if both teams advanced from their group. The final is scheduled for March 9 in Pakistan with the specific venue not yet decided.
“Our stance is clear,” Naqvi said. “They need to give us in writing any objections they may have. Until now, no discussion of the hybrid model has happened, nor are we prepared to accept one.”
Political tensions have stopped bilateral cricket between the two nations since 2008 and they have competed in only multi-nation tournaments, including ICC World Cups.
“Cricket should be free of politics,” Naqvi said. “Any sport should not be entangled with politics. Our preparations for the Champions Trophy will continue unabated, and this will be a successful event.”
The PCB has already spent millions of dollars on the upgrade of stadiums in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi which are due to host 15 Champions Trophy games. Naqvi hoped all the three stadiums will be ready over the next two months.
“Almost every country wants the Champions Trophy to be played here (in Pakistan),” Naqvi said. “I don’t think anyone should make this a political matter, and I don’t expect they will. I expect the tournament will be held at the home of the official hosts.”
Eight countries – Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, England, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand and Afghanistan – are due to compete in the tournament, the schedule of which is yet to be announced by the International Cricket Council.
“Normally the ICC announces the schedule of any major tournament 100 days before the event, and I hope they will announce it very soon,” Naqvi said.
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia – Ottawa‘s Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe of New Zealand are through to the doubles final at the WTA Finals after a 7-6 (7), 6-1 victory over Nicole Melichar-Martinez of the United States and Australia’s Ellen Perez in semifinal action Friday.
Dabrowski and Routliffe won a hard-fought first set against serve when Routliffe’s quick reaction at the net to defend a Perez shot gave the duo set point, causing Perez to throw down her racket in frustration.
The second seeds then cruised through the second set, winning match point on serve when Melichar-Martinez couldn’t handle Routliffe’s shot.
The showdown was a rematch of last year’s semifinal, which Melichar-Martinez and Perez won in a super tiebreak.
Dabrowski and Routliffe will face the winner of a match between Katerina Siniakova and Taylor Townsend, and Hao-Ching Chan and Veronika Kudermetova in the final on Saturday.
Dabrowski is aiming to become the first Canadian to win a WTA Finals title.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 8, 2024.
