San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
DeChambeau, Cantlay tied amid wild ride
OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Baltimore delivered a big crowd for its first PGA Tour stop in nearly 60 years, and Bryson DeChambeau delivered a big dose of entertainment.
That covered a lot of territory at the BMW Championship. DeChambeau had back-toback eagles with sheer strength and a remarkable touch with the putter. And then he had consecutive holes with shots into the water that cost him a four-shot lead.
“It was definitely colorful,” DeChambeau said.
He had to settle for a share of the lead with Patrick Cantlay, whose classic style and unwavering patience in the wake of DeChambeau’s wild ride worked equally well.
So crazy was this action that DeChambeau went from a one-shot deficit to a three-shot lead in the span of two holes with his long eagle putts, only for Cantlay to go from a fourshot deficit to a one-shot lead in two holes on the back nine with his birdies and DeChambeau’s blunders.
DeChambeau steadied himself over the final three holes for a 5-under-under 67. Cantlay didn’t drop a shot until the final hole when he drove into deep rough and an 8-foot par putt caught the left side of the hole. His lone bogey gave him a 66.
“It was another day on an easy, soft golf course, so you needed to make a bunch of birdies,” Cantlay said. “I thought I played really well, all in all. I didn’t make too many mistakes. I thought it was a good day and I’m in a good spot for tomorrow.”
They were at 21-under 195, and Sunday had the trappings of a two-man race.
Sungjae Im birdied his last two holes for a 66 and was three shots behind. The group four shots back included Rory McIlroy, who had a bogey-free 65 and made up only two shots on the lead.
Abraham Ancer of Mexico (66), Sam Burns (65) and Sergio Garcia (67) also were in the group four shots behind.
The biggest disappointment belonged to Jon Rahm, the world’s No. 1 player, who had three bogeys over the last six holes and shot 70.
He fell five shots behind. That’s not typically a massive deficit, it just seems like one on a course where birdies are available at any time.
Cantlay was one shot ahead early with an eagle on the par-5 second hole — DeChambeau’s shot into the green hit a sprinkler pin-high in the collar and shot over the green into shaggy grass in a hazard that led to par — and matching birdies into the par-3 third.
All it took was two holes for Cantlay to fall three behind while doing nothing wrong.
This was all about DeChambeau, who charged up the sunbaked gallery with a 25-foot eagle putt on the par-5 fourth hole and then drove onto the front of the green on the 322yard fifth and made a 55-foot putt.
At that point, it looked like a runaway on a Caves Valley course suited to him with soft conditions and wide fairways.
He hit one drive so far left down the hill at No. 8 that DeChambeau had to walk some 30 yards back to the fairway because he couldn’t find a sprinkler with a yardage on it. He hit that to 30 feet and made the birdie to lead by four.
And then it all changed. The mud on his ball contributed to a wild shot to the right and into the water, turning a potential birdie on the par-5 12th into bogey and a two-shot swing when Cantlay got up-and-down for birdie.
DeChambeau’s tee shot on the par-3 13th found the water, which led to double bogey and a three-shot swing when Cantlay holed a 35-foot birdie putt. DeChambeau was mostly concerned about some of his wild tee shots, even the ones that didn’t cost him. Something went awry on No. 7, and he hit the practice range after the round.
Sunday has more than just the trophy at stake. The top 30 in the FedEx Cup advance to the final event at the Tour Championship next week.
Patrick Reed was home in Houston recovering from bilateral pneumonia. He needed a lot to go right to stay in the top 30 and has a more reasonable chance than at the start of the week.
As for the Ryder Cup, Tony Finau and Xander Schauffele dropped out of the top 30 at Caves Valley, and Cantlay could grab the sixth and final automatic spot if he were to win.