Workday Charity Open: Top 10 power rankings at Muirfield Village

Patrick Cantlay is known to have a fairly stoic demeanor on the golf course. It looks like he’s just hanging out. That’s what he’s been doing since golf has returned from the COVID-19 hiatus. While most players have played at least three out of the four weeks thus far, Cantlay’s only teed it up once.

The former UCLA Bruin looked good in his one appearance, finishing T-11th at the Travelers Championship with four rounds in the 60s.

It’s reasonable why he’d want to be rested for a couple straight weeks at Muirfield Village. Cantlay is the defending Memorial Tournament champion. He fired 68-69-68-64 to beat a tough field by two.

Cantlay also finished T-35th (71-72-74-71) at that event in 2017 and fourth (68-69-66-71) in 2018 where he was just a shot out of a playoff.

The 28-year-old is a premier ball striker who does well at courses that demand precision and fine ball striking.

“One of the things I like about this golf course is it’s pretty straightforward once you get to know it,” Cantlay was quoted by ASAP Sports in 2019. “You know when you hit a good shot, and good shots are rewarded; and bad shots, they’re bad shots. It’s going to be hard to scramble and make pars.”

Prior to golf’s stoppage, Cantlay had made four of four cuts in the 2019-2020 PGA Tour season, including solo second at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. He’s up to 13 made cuts in a row worldwide with one coming on the European Tour. The last time Cantlay trunk slammed on Friday was in February 2019.

He ranks fifth on Tour in strokes gained approach (.926) and is top-50 in all SG categories. The last four tournaments on the PGA Tour have been birdie fests. I imagine that could be the case again, which is fine for Cantlay who’s third in birdie average (4.83).