In the least surprising news ever, Patrick Cantlay is at the top of the leader board at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open.
Two years ago, in the midst of a comeback from injury and tragedy, Cantlay earned his first PGA Tour victory at the Shriners, edging out Alex Cejka and Whee Kim in a playoff. A year later he nearly defended his title at TPC Summerlin, shooting 63 and 65 on the weekend. He came up one shot shy of Bryson DeChambeau, who made a stunning eagle on the 16th hole that wound up being enough to win.
For the third straight season, Cantlay is in contention in Las Vegas, shooting rounds of 66 and Friday’s seven-under 64 to reach 12-under 130. Safe to say he likes the course.
“I think you got to drive the golf ball in the fairway. If you do, you got a lot of opportunities,” said Cantlay, who has hit 22 of 28 fairways this week “I have driven the ball really well this week. I haven’t capitalized all the time, but I’ve played so solid and I really feel comfortable around here. I like the lines off the tee, lots of draw tee shot.
“I like the golf course, so I think that helps.”
Cantlay is part of a four-way tie at the top, one that includes Kevin Na, another former winner at the Shriners. Na, who lives in Las Vegas, shot a second-round 62 that featured 202 feet of made putts.
“It started with the first hole, made a 60-footer bomb, and you know, my putter just felt good all day” Na said. “Kenny [Harms, Na’s caddie] and I were reading the greens really well. We were both seeing the same thing, and I was rolling it right where we were looking, and they were falling.”
Also at 12 under are Lucas Glover and Brian Stuard, who are each looking to break win droughts, though Glover’s is much longer. The former U.S. Open champ is looking for his first victory since May of 2011, while Stuard his looking for his first win since May of 2016.
Another former PGA Tour winner, Matt Jones, is in solo fifth at 11 under.
Up-to-the-minute leader board and other scoring information for the 2019 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, Oct. 3-6, 2019, TPC Summerlin, Las Vegas, Nevada