Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele first competed at cards on the long flight to Australia for the Presidents Cup. They became partners in team events, roommates on the road, close friends who take vacations together with their wives, and more practice rounds than they can count. Sunday at Riviera will have some familiarity to it with one exception: They have never competed against each other with $4 million on the line.
Cantlay was solid as ever Saturday in the Genesis Invitational until a soft bogey toward the end of the round that effectively cut his lead in half. He was leading by four shots most of the back nine until his mistake on the par-5 17th and strong finishes by Schauffele and Will Zalatoris. Cantlay settled for a 1-under 70, giving him a two-shot lead over Schauffele and Zalatoris, who each birdied the 16th and 17th holes for 65s.
For a tournament in which host Tiger Woods withdrew with the flu and Jordan Spieth was disqualified for signing an incorrect card amidst his own stomach issues, the final round of this signature event has some appeal.
Zalatoris missed most of last year after back surgery, and now he has a chance to show he’s all the way back. “Being in contention, that’s how you find out where you´re at,” he said.
The final group is Cantlay and Schauffele, a pair of Californians who are now neighbors in Florida. They don’t do everything together, it just seems that way.
“We play most practice rounds together and we play a lot at home. It won´t be anything out of the usual,” Cantlay said.
They have been in the final group twice and it’s a draw – Cantlay got the best of him at the BMW Championship in 2022 at Wilmington Country Club, while Schauffele won earlier that summer at the Travelers Championship.
This will be their 21st time playing together on the PGA Tour, to go along with 13 times they have been partners in the Ryder Cup and Presidents Cup, and 12 rounds they played together as partners in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, winning in 2022.
Cantlay, a UCLA alum who grew up 30 miles down the coast at Virginia Country Club, was at 14-under 199.