Cantlay gets bounces for victory
Patrick Cantlay won another thriller Sunday in the BMW Championship, getting a great bounce on the 17th hole that set up a short birdie and led to a twounder-par 69 and a one-shot victory over Scott Stallings at Wilmington, Del.
Cantlay became the first player to win the BMW Championship back-toback since the FedEx Cup began in 2007. This was on a different course and he didn’t have to go six playoff holes. He also doesn’t have the FedEx Cup lead going to the finale next week at East Lake.
All that mattered was winning at Wilmington Country Club, but he needed a little help.
The former UCLA standout was tied for the lead on the 420-yard 17th hole when he decided to hit driver, and he feared it would get hung up in a series of bunkers down the right side. But the ball landed short, took a big hop over the sand and tumbled through the first cut and into the fairway just 64 yards from the hole.
“I hit a lot of solid shots and got a lot of good breaks,” Cantlay said. “That break was something I was not expecting. It was big for me to take advantage of it.”
That he did. Cantlay hit a spinner that skipped and stopped five feet from the flag, holed the birdie putt for the lead and then found the green on No. 18 from a fairway bunker.
A year ago he made one clutch putt after another about an hour down the road at Caves Valley and beat Bryson DeChambeau. That gave him the top seed at the Tour Championship, which comes with a two-shot margin before the tournament starts, and Cantlay won the FedEx Cup and its $18-million prize with a oneshot win over Jon Rahm.
This time he goes into the FedEx Cup finale as the No. 2 seed, meaning he will start next week two shots behind Masters champion Scottie Scheffler.
Bennett holds on, wins U.S. Amateur
Texas A&M senior Sam Bennett won the U.S. Amateur, building a 5-up lead over Ben Carr and holding on for a 1-up victory at Ridgewood Country Club in Paramus, N.J.
Bennett is No. 3 in the world amateur ranking and had to get past three straight players ranked in the top 10 to reach the championship match.
Needing to win the 18th to extend the match, Carr missed the fairway to the right and came up short. He chipped to eight feet. Bennett was on the green and had two putts from 12 feet to win. He lagged it to within inches for the win.
Harrington wins on Champions Tour
Padraig Harrington won the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open at Endicott, N.Y., for his second PGA Tour Champions victory of the year.
Harrington closed with a five-under 67 at En-Joie Golf Club for a three-stroke victory over Mike Weir and Thongchai Jaidee.
A stroke behind Weir entering the day, Harrington birdied Nos. 2, 3, 9, 11 and 12 in a bogey-free round to finish at 16-under 200.