Patrick Cantlay Makes Cut at The Masters Despite Trouble on Back 9
The Bruins' lone alumni representative at Augusta National was not able to replicate his recent late-round success Friday afternoon.
Patrick Cantlay, a former UCLA men's golf standout, entered the second round of The Masters Tournament tied for seventh on the leaderboards at 2-under after a late push Thursday. More than halfway through his outing on Friday, he was standing pat in that spot, very much in contention to win his first green jacket and first major championship.
While Cantlay's final few holes didn't cost him a spot in the field Saturday and Sunday, they did knock him down several pegs.
Three late bogeys resulted in Cantlay shooting a 3-over 75 in the second round, putting him at 1-over for the tournament. Cantlay dropped 12 spots as a result and is now tied for 19th alongside Tiger Woods, Webb Simpson and Kevin Kisner.
Coming off four straight pars to open his second round, Cantlay's approach on five went to the left of the green and his chip set up a 10-footer for par. The putt stayed straight as an arrow, and Cantlay stared at the ball for a beat before cleaning up for bogey.
Cantlay erased the damage on eight, launching a second shot just to the left of the green before chipping on to set up a dead straight birdie putt.
Through 12 holes, Cantlay remained at the same 2-under mark he boasted coming into Friday. The last six holes are where Cantlay exploded Thursday, using three birdies in that span to scratch his way into the top 10.
The former Bruin did not close quite as strongly Friday.
Cantlay went into the dirt on his tee shot on 13, and his second shot went sailing into the gallery as he tried to avoid the tree standing in his way. Cantlay's approach took one hop off the green and rolled into the rough on the back side, setting up a pitch that rolled far beyond the cup.
That led to a long uphill par putt, which came up an inch short and meant Cantlay had picked up his second bogey of the day. Cantlay birdied 13 on Thursday.
Cantlay also birdied 15 on Thursday, but he scored a par there on Friday. His first round birdie on 16 turned into a bogey on Friday thanks to a four-putt, and instead of getting a par on 17, he bogeyed that one too after his par putt lipped out.
The first two-thirds of the second round went better for Cantlay than they did in the first, sitting at even par through 12 holes Friday after being 1-over in that spot Thursday. But instead of being 3-under on the last six holes again, Cantlay was 3-over in that stretch.
If Cantlay had replicated his late-round success from Thursday, he would be in second place at 5-under. Even if he had stayed even through that last chunk of the day, the former All-American and reigning FedEx Cup champion would be tied for seventh alongside Dustin Johnson.
Instead, Cantlay is nine strokes back from the leader – his Ryder Cup teammate Scottie Scheffler.
Cantlay will be teeing off at 10:10 a.m. PST alongside Simpson, just 10 minutes after Woods and Kisner.
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