Closing 65 ‘good prep work’ for Cantlay
Patrick Cantlay played on Sunday as if he’s intent on defending his Memorial Tournament title.
After three middling rounds in the Workday Charity Open at Muirfield Village Golf Cliub, Cantlay shot a 65 on Sunday to finish 11 under par, tied for seventh place.
Cantlay got off to a blistering start in his final round with birdies on Nos. 2, 3 and 4 and an eagle on the par-5 on a 13-foot putt. He couldn’t sustain that surge, though he did finish with four more birdies.
“I played really well so I’m happy about getting a good feel on the golf course,” Cantlay said. “The greens were a little quicker. It felt a little like the first round of the Memorial out there today, so it was a nice rehearsal for next week.”
The greens were deliberately kept slower for the Workday event than they will be for next week’s Memorial, and Cantlay said he struggled to adapt in his first three rounds.
This was only his second tournament since the coronavirus pandemic shut down the PGA Tour in March. Cantlay tied for 11th in the Travelers Championship two weeks ago.
“It was really good prep work,” he said of Workday. “I did a lot of work this week. Ended up playing nice today, so a decent finish, but more importantly, getting ready for the defense next week.”
Hovland fades
With birdies on Nos. 3, 4 and 5 on Sunday, Viktor Hovland took the lead while third-round leader Justin Thomas faltered.
But the 22-year-old Norwegian couldn’t sustain his momentum, managing only one more birdie the rest of the way with three bogeys. He finished with a 71 and third-place finish at 15 under.
“Three under through five holes, that’s kind of what you’re looking for,” Hovland said. “I really kept on hitting good shots, but I just couldn’t really make any putts and couldn’t get the momentum.
“On the back nine, it just wasn’t quite going in, and then I started hitting some bad shots. Just was one of those days.”
Career-best finish
Chase Seiffert believes his fourth-place finish after a final-round 67 could be a breakthrough. The 28-yearold Floridian’s previous best finish was a tie for ninth at the 2018 Travelers.
“This was huge,” Seiffert said. “I obviously believed I could do it, but it’s actually nice when you go out there and pull it together.”
Seiffert birdied seven of the first 12 holes, including the par-5 11th hole, where he drained his approach shot from 129 yards after hitting his second shot into the water.
Seiffert’s chance to get closer than three shots of the leaders ended when he couldn’t birdie any of his final six holes. That didn’t dampen his excitement about his week.
“I had a great few days of preparations before and had three nice rounds of ball-striking and then yesterday my short game and putter really bailed me out,” he said. “On the whole it was a great week. I was ecstatic out there.”
Finishing strong
Westerville resident Jason Day shot a 67 on Sunday to finish 11 under and tied for seventh. It was his best finish since finishing fourth at AT&T Pebble Beach in January. He had missed three cuts and finished tied for 46th since the PGA Tour resumed play.
Big run ends
MJ Daffue’s final round wasn’t the storybook one he had Saturday, but he’ll take it.
On Saturday, the world’s 1,373rd-ranked golfer made the cut with a final-hole birdie in the completion of the second round and then shot a 65 in the third round. On Sunday, Daffue shot a 73 to finish at 8 under and tied for 22nd.
“Obviously, a great week,” Daffue said. “Today it was funny enough the best ball-striking I’ve had, but I had only four loose shots and it cost me four shots.”
He said the long week took a toll. He got a spot in Monday qualifying by shooting a 63.
“I think I did a pretty good job of staying in the moment and focusing on the shot ahead,” Daffue said, “but you lose your vision or your focus for a split second, and you make a bad swing.” brabinowitz@dispatch.com @brdispatch