Why Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele have plenty to lose with a Masters win this week
PGA Tour stars Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay have much in common.
They are such close friends that they vacation together and Schauffele was the lone PGA Tour player who attended Cantlay’s wedding in Rome after last year’s Ryder Cup matches there.
The California natives annually join forces in the PGA Tour’s two-man team Zurich Classic tournament, which they won in 2022. They play practice rounds together when in the same tournament, as was this case this week for the Masters Tournament.
“Yeah, Xander and I are great friends and we've played a lot of golf together. Between Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup, quite a few team events,” Cantlay said.
Schauffele, however, once joked that “we don’t have friendship bracelets yet.”
The similarities include their PGA Tour accomplishments. Cantlay has $43.9 million in career earnings; Schauffele $43.5 million. Cantlay has eight PGA wins and Schauffele has seven. They both have signature victories – Cantlay was the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup champion in 2021 and Schauffele was the Olympic champion in Tokyo the same year.
They also are both ranked in the top 10 in the world – Schauffele is No. 5 and Cantlay is No. 7 this week.
And they are the top two veterans without a major championship victory. At age 32, Cantlay is two years older than his friend.
Only two other players in the world ranking top 10 – No. 6 Viktor Hovland and No. 9 Ludvig Aberg – haven’t won a major, but they are both in their mid-20s.
Schauffele and Cantlay are in good form, so that first major could come this week at Augusta National Golf Club. They handled the windy conditions Thursday, with Cantlay shooting 1-under-par 71 and Schauffele 72.
Cantlay had some fireworks at the end of his round – he made an eagle on the par-4 17th hole by holing out a wedge shot from 146 yards.
“I was having a pretty mediocre day up until that point,” Cantlay said.
He parred No. 18 to close out his under par round.
“I think momentum can be real,” Cantlay said. “Definitely getting it under par for today, I think it's going to play difficult again tomorrow, so put four rounds together under par, have a good chance.”
A victory this week for either golfer would end a drought; neither of them won in 2023.
This season, Schauffele has the better record. He has six top-10 finishes in eight starts, including a runner-up finish in the Players Championship. Cantlay has one top 10, a tie for fourth at the Genesis. He has also finished 11th and 12th in his seven starts.
“I think it's harder to win out here than it ever has,” Cantlay said. “I think guys play more aggressively, and the scores, as you can see, are lower and lower, seemingly every year. I always marvel at the beginning of the year how many under par guys shoot at the Sentry. It's essentially the same golf course, but guys keep shooting lower and lower.
“Yeah, I think winning, you got to keep putting yourself in position time after time, and some of those weeks you get the right break at the right time,” Cantlay added. “You hit a couple putts that, instead of going on the lip, they go in. Usually those are the weeks that you win.”
Getting his eighth career victory is “definitely something that I think about that rings around in my head a bit,” Schauffele said. “People tell me, 'Good playing,' and they're not wrong, I feel like it's - it was some solid golf that I've been playing. It's not a false statement. Obviously you just want it to be that much better. But at the end of the day, I think that's also the reason why I keep having these performances where I am close, just because it's bothering me and it's something that I really want.”
Schauffele has a better record in the majors of the two, especially in the Masters. Overall in majors, Schauffele has nine top-10 finishes and Cantlay four.
Three of those for Schauffele are at Augusta National, with a tie for second in 2019 and a tie for third in 2021. Cantlay’s lone top-10 in the Masters was a tie for ninth in 2019, highlighted by a third-round 64.
“I just enjoy playing out here,” Schauffele said. “I just have a lot of fun on property. It's a stressful week, but I think once the gun goes off on Thursday, you just kind of - not wheel it, but, you know, everyone works - I feel like I work extra hard in the beginning part of the year to try to get ready for this tournament, and I'm at home trying to hit shots that I normally wouldn't practice off severe slopes and things of that nature is. So maybe it's just extra preparation, I'm not really sure, but you really have to be creative around the property, and I think I enjoy that challenge a lot.”
This article originally appeared on Wilmington StarNews: Patrick Cantlay, Xander Schauffele best without a major at Masters
