Patrick Cantlay’s rapid rise continued Friday at Congressional Country Club. The young Californian shot 67 to put himself in contention among players at the US Open not named McIlroy.
When Cantlay signed his card Friday, only one player had posted a lower 18-hole score at Congressional: Rory McIlroy, who walked off the course with an eight-shot lead after shooting 65-66.
Cantlay is 11 shots back of McIlroy, who’s just three years older than him. Still, Cantlay’s even-par 142 (75-67) should leave him around 15th place at day’s end.
“It's easier playing from the fairway,” Cantlay said. “I drove it better today, and I really felt comfortable on the greens and started rolling some putts in.”
Cantlay seemed more likely to miss the cut than be in contention a few holes into his second round. He was 6 over after making double bogey on the par-4 fourth hole, his 22nd of the event. He made birdies on six of his final 10 holes Friday.
“He rolled the rock,” said playing partner Michael Putnam, who is three shots behind Cantlay. “He shot 5 under on the back nine. That’s a hard nine holes of golf. He just looks really good with a putter.”
Cantly made putts of 30, 50, 5, 30 and 4 feet in his bogey-free 30 on Congressional’s difficult back nine, which was playing to an average of 37.3 strokes early Friday.
He’s long been known for his putting stroke. Several years ago, his instructor, Jamie Mulligan, used Cantlay and several PGA Tour players in a putting demonstration for fellow teaching pros. Cantlay stole the show.
¿“Three hundred of them said that kid had the best putting stroke there, even of the guys that have earned millions on tour,” said Mulligan, who also teaches John Cook, Paul Goydos, John Merrick and John Mallinger.
Cantlay has developed into arguably the world’s top amateur after adding several inches and pounds to his frame (he stands 5-10, 160) and 50 yards to his tee ball. He averaged 304.3 yards off the tee during the Open’s first two rounds.
He won four times during his freshman season at UCLA and swept college golf’s player-of-the-year awards. He also was a semifinalist at the 2010 US Amateur.
Cantlay grew up at Virginia Country Club in Long Beach, Calif., which Goydos, Merrick and Mallinger call home. Cantlay’s father, Steve, is a former club champion there.
“He grew up around tour players. He’s very fortunate,” UCLA head coach Derek Freeman said earlier this year. “He doesn’t see a golf course through an 18-year-old’s eyes. He sees it through a young tour player’s eyes.”
Cantlay insists he intends to stay at UCLA for three more years, though his recent travel schedule has resembled that of a Tour player. Here’s his recent docket:
• June 2: Finishes runner-up in the NCAA Championship in Stillwater, Okla.
• June 3: His UCLA team loses to Duke in the first round of the NCAA Championship
• June 5: Accepts the Jack Nicklaus Award (college golf’s player of the year) from Jack Nicklaus in Columbus, Ohio
• June 6: Qualifies for US Open at 36-hole qualifier in Columbus.
• June 9-11: Represents United States in Palmer Cup, a Ryder Cup-style match between top collegians from the United States and Europe, in Stanwich, Conn.
• June 13-19: Plays US Open.
• Next week: Playing Travelers Championship
“It’s been quite the whirlwind,” Steve Cantlay said. But it’s been worthwhile. Cantlay made quite the name for himself on Friday.
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