San Francisco Chronicle - (Sunday)
Cantlay one step away from $15 million payoff
Patrick Cantlay finished with a 25-foot birdie putt that gave him a two-shot lead over Jon Rahm in the PGA Tour Championship on Saturday in Atlanta and set the stage for a sprint to the $15 million prize.
It might not be a two-man race at East Lake anymore.
Cantlay’s final birdie allowed him to finish strong after a wobbly four-hole stretch that had winnowed his four-shot lead to one. He wound up with a 3under-par 67 and was at 20under, leaving him one round away from the FedEx Cup.
Rahm finished with five consecutive pars for a 68 and was still very much alive. He went from a four-shot deficit after the 10th hole to a one-shot deficit just five holes later.
“Hopefully tomorrow, I can bring my A-game and give this guy in front of me a little bit of a run,” Rahm said.
Not to be overlooked was Justin Thomas, who began the Tour Championship six shots behind because of his position in the FedEx Cup coming into the finale. A strong round was marred by pulling his tee shot on the par-5 18th, going roughto-rough to 35 feet, and then three-putting for bogey. He was five behind.
No one else was closer than seven shots of Cantlay, who began the week at 10-under par after his BMW Championship victory made him the No. 1 seed.
Three weeks before the Ryder Cup, four-time major champion Brooks Koepka withdrew from the Tour Championship after injuring his wrist by hitting a tree root. He called the withdrawal a precautionary measure.
Defending champion Europe rode a dominant performance in the alternate-shot format to surge to a 5½-2½ lead at the Solheim Cup in Toledo, Ohio. The Europeans took 3½ of a possible four points during the foursome matches and split the afternoon four-ball session for some early momentum in their push to win on U.S. soil for just the second time in the event’s 31-year history.
While top-ranked Nelly Korda and Ally Ewing beat Madelene Sagstrom and Nanna Koerstz Madsen in a four-ball match to give this U.S. team its first point, Europe rookie Leona Maguire teamed with Mel Reid to take down Korda and older sister Jessica 1-up in alternate shot, then combined with Georgia Hall to edge Brittany Altomare and Concord teenager Yealimi Noh 1-up.
Matilda Castren and seventime Solheim Cup veteran Anna Nordqvist dropped Lexi Thompson and Monterey’s Mina Harigae 4 and 3 in fourball. Lizette Salas salvaged a point for the U.S. in four-ball when she made a 7-foot birdie on the 18th to give her and Jennifer Kupcho a 1-up win over Carlota Ciganda and Sophia Popov.