After birdies on four of his first five holes, Patrick Cantlay sank a 21’9” putt for birdie on the 72nd hole to post a 6-under 66 and force sudden death with Bryson DeChambeau at the BMW Championship.
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He moved to 3-1 in playoffs on the PGA Tour and marked the second playoff win this season (the Memorial Tournament presented by Workday). Cantlay’s fifth career title came in his 120th start at the age of 29 years, 5 months, 12 days.
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With the win, he holds the No. 1 spot in the FedExCup for a 10th time this season, second only to DeChambeau (20 weeks), and will begin the TOUR Championship with a two-stroke advantage on the field.
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He moves to No. 4 in the Official World Golf Ranking, up from 10th with the win in a FedExCup Playoffs event for the first time.
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With the win, Cantlay became the first player to claim three victories this season (2020 ZOZO Championship, 2021 the Memorial presented by Workday, BMW Championship).
The 27-under marked his lowest score to par in a Tour event (previously 23-under at the 2019 Shriners Children’s Open and 2020 ZOZO Championship); 261 total ties his career-low 72-hole score (2019/Shriners Children’s Open/2nd).
#FedExCup No. 1 @Patrick_Cantlay speaks with the media following his win @BMWChamps. https://t.co/98vR4Ntw4y
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 30, 2021
The 27-under fell three strokes shy of the record for most-under-par score in a FedExCup Playoffs event (Dustin Johnson/-30/2020 THE NORTHERN TRUST).
Cantlay converted a 54-hole lead/co-lead into victory for the first time. On only previous occasion he finished T8 at the 2020 Shriners Children’s Open and converted a lead/co-lead after any round for the first time (1-for-10).
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He becomes the first player to convert a 54-hole lead on Tour since Phil Mickelson at the PGA Championship, a span of 15 events. Becomes the 12th 54-hole leader/co-leader to win the BMW Championship since 2000 and first since Justin Thomas in 2019.
Makes a return to the TOUR Championship for a fourth time and first since 2019 (34th in the FedExCup in 2020).
A playoff for the ages.@Patrick_Cantlay is victorious on the 6th playoff hole @BMWChamps.
(presented by @SuperStrokeGolf) pic.twitter.com/J6vthYBuWG
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 29, 2021
“I’m a little tired but very happy. I played really well all week. At the beginning of the week I didn’t realize it would take that many under par to just force a playoff. But I hit a lot of good shots today, and it was just enough,” said Cantlay.
“You know, I think the bogey save on 17 (in regulation) was a tricky little putt. Obviously not the way I wanted to play that hole, but that kept me in the golf tournament, and it was a tricky putt, and saving just a bogey there and keeping me just one shot going into 18, that was a really big putt. And then obviously the one on 18 in regulation. But they all mattered, I guess, the same. I needed all of them. We traded blows pretty much all day.”
Following a final-round 6-under 66, Dechambeau missed an 11’9” putt for birdie on the sixth extra hole to extend the playoff.
He moved to 1-1 in playoffs on the Tour. With the runner-up finish moved to No. 3 in the FedExCup.
This is his best finish in the FedExCup: 3rd/2018 after entering the TOUR Championship as the FedExCup leader.
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The eight-time Tour winner recorded his fifth runner-up. He was seeking a third victory in the FedExCup Playoffs (2018 THE NORTHERN TRUST, 2018 Dell Technologies Championship).
The runner-up finish comes in his fifth start at the BMW Championship, marking his first top-10 in the event.
2012 BMW Championship winner and first-round co-leader Rory McIlroy (4th/-22) closed with a 5-under 67.
Dustin Johnson (T6/-20) recorded a 6-under 66, his 94th sub-70 round in the FedExCup Playoffs, the most of any player (next: Adam Scott/90).
Last week’s winner of THE NORTHERN TRUST Tony Finau (T15/-16) birdied five of his first nine holes and five of his last six en route to a 9-under 63.
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