Tag: patrick

LIV Golf’s Patrick Reed highlights BMW International Open field liv,golf,s,patrick,reed,highlights,bmw,international,open,field,sbnation,com,golf,golf-dp-world-tour,golf-news,liv-golf

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Before some of the world’s best professional golfers converge upon the Home of Golf in Scotland, the PGA Tour heads to the Quad Cities for the John Deere Classic, and the DP World Tour will stage the BMW International Open in Munich, Germany.

LIV Golf’s Patrick Reed, currently the 101st-ranked player in the world, highlights this week’s field in Bavaria. Reed is eligible to play in DP World Tour events, unlike other LIV Golf players, because he has no outstanding fines or sanctions. The same applies to Thomas Pieters, who narrowly missed out on winning the Soudal Open in his native Belgium in May. Pieters finished one stroke behind 37-year-old Nacho Elvira of Spain.

Reed came up short last week, too. He hoped he could contend at the Italian Open, which awarded two spots into this year’s Open Championship field via the Open Qualifying Series, but he came up short. Tom McKibbin, who lost to Marcel Siem in a playoff, and American Sean Crocker earned those two invites to Royal Troon instead.

The 2018 Masters Champion is not currently listed among the entrants for next week’s Genesis Scottish Open, the final event of the Open Qualifying Series. That could change, however, should Reed win this week in Germany.

The R&A will invite the top three finishers—not otherwise exempt—to join The Open Championship at the Renaissance Club in North Berwick next week.

Other notable players in the BMW International Open field include Austrian Bernd Wiesberger, who left LIV Golf at the end of 2023, former U.S. Open champion Martin Kaymer, and Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald. PGA Tour Champions stars Bernhard Langer, Thomas Bjørn, Miguel Angel Jimenez, and Alex Cejka will also compete this week, fresh off the U.S. Senior Open at Newport Country Club, where LIV Golf’s Richard Bland won his second consecutive senior major.

Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.

PGA Tour: Patrick Cantlay pulls out of John Deere Classic pga,tour,patrick,cantlay,pulls,out,of,john,deere,classic,sbnation,com,golf,golf-pga-tour,golf-news

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The John Deere Classic does not have the strongest field in golf year in and year out, but the event typically features a handful of stars.

Jordan Spieth will tee it up this year. As will defending champion and Ryder Cup star Sepp Straka. This year’s event also includes International stars Sungjae Im and Jason Day, 2023 American Ryder Cup captain Zach Johnson, and 2009 Champion Golfer of the Year Stewart Cink.

But Patrick Cantlay, who the tour had listed in the original John Deere Classic field, decided to withdraw on Monday. Scotsman Russell Knox will replace him in the field.

The tour did not specify why Cantlay withdrew.

Yet, if Cantlay had remained in the field, it would have marked his first appearance at the John Deere Classic. TPC Deere Run has hosted this event since 2000.

Another notable withdrawal is Cameron Davis, who won the Rocket Mortgage Classic this past week for the second time in his career. His win in Detroit also vaulted him up the FedEx Cup rankings and gave him exemptions into next year’s Masters, The Players, and all eight Signature Events. As such, Davis felt obligated to take the week off and soak in his victory, which certainly did not come easy both on and off the golf course. Had Akshay Bhatia not three-putted, Davis would have likely faced Bhatia in a sudden-death playoff, and who knows how that would have shaken out. But Davis was the lone man to finish at 18-under as he happily stood atop the leaderboard after 72 holes.

As for Cantlay, his last appearance came at the Travelers Championship, where he tied for fifth. The week before, the former UCLA Bruin turned in the best major performance of his career, tying for third at Pinehurst No. 2. It seems he has found something as of late, an impressive development given that Cantlay has had a sporadic season. Before the U.S. Open, his best two finishes came at Riviera and Hilton Head, tying for third and fourth, respectively. But he also struggled at the Players, the PGA Championship, and the Memorial. He did not have his best stuff at the Masters, either.

Cantlay is also not listed among the entrants for next week’s Genesis Scottish Open, the final tune-up for The Open Championship at Royal Troon. As such, all signs point to golf fans seeing Cantlay next at golf’s oldest major championship in two weeks’ time.

Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.

U.S. Open: Patrick Cantlay’s short game helps give him early lead u,s,open,patrick,cantlay,s,short,game,helps,give,him,early,lead,sbnation,com,golf,us-open-golf,golf-majors,golf-pga-tour,golf-news

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If you have followed any coverage leading up to the U.S. Open at Pinehurst No. 2, you know that this course is all about the greens.

You must have your short game on point around these crazy putting surfaces. You have to make plenty of putts, too.

Patrick Cantlay did just that on Thursday, which explains why he carded an impressive opening round 5-under 65. He gained 3.8 strokes around the greens, which ranks first among the field. He also hit plenty of solid iron shots, gaining 2.15 strokes on approach.

His round got off to a thrilling start at the par-4 11th, where he holed out for birdie from the sand, which provided a huge momentum boost early.

He then dropped a shot at the par-3 15th, his only bogey of the day, but bounced back with a birdie on the 18th to post a 1-under 34 to start. Having started on 10, he made the turn towards the front, where more opportunities presented themselves.

Cantlay birdied the 1st hole, thanks to a spectacular approach that landed five feet away. Two more birdies followed at the par-5 5th and par-3 6th, the latter of which came on one of the most challenging holes on the property. He drained a 20-footer there for his fifth par-breaker of the day, vaulting himself to 4-under for the tournament.

But his self-described best moment of the day came at the par-4 7th.

“I got the ball up and down on 7, made a bunch of putts inside, eight feet,” Cantlay said.

“I think around this golf course, you’re going to leave yourself putts inside eight feet. That four-to-eight-foot range. It is important that you hole out. I did that well today.”

After missing the fairway right, Cantlay hit his approach just short of the green on 7. He then chipped up to 5-feet away and drained the putt.

Then, on the next hole, the 486-yard par-4 8th, Cantlay hit his second shot to four feet, which set up his fifth—and final—birdie of the day.

He now leads Ludvig Åberg by a stroke at 5-under par on a course that will only get tougher as the championship wears on. Cantlay admitted that he did not have a score in mind this morning but knows the most challenging moments are yet to come.

“I didn’t think much of [the score],” Cantlay said. I knew going off at 7:40 in the morning, it was going to play maybe the easiest it will play all week, with the lack of wind and probably the softest we will see it. I’m really happy with the round I played today.”

Jack Milko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. Be sure to check out @_PlayingThrough for more golf coverage. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko as well.