2022 RBC Heritage: Cantlay’s Electric Finish, Spieth Finds Spark

Patrick Cantlay closed with a flurry of birdies to take control at the top on Friday, while Jordan Spieth finds spark at the RBC Heritage.

Two players who have had somewhat sluggish starts to 2022 may have both found something during the same round on Friday at the 2022 RBC Heritage.

2021 FedEx Cup winner Patrick Cantlay sits alone at the top of the leaderboard heading into the weekend at Harbour Town. Cantlay finished with a flourish of birdies to end his round and looks like he may be getting hot once again.

The California native had been relatively quiet of late after starting the year on a run that was reminiscent of how he finished 2021. Patrick began 2022 with four straight top 10 finishes, but since the WM Phoenix Open when he lost out to Scottie Scheffler in a playoff he has failed to find himself truly in contention.

Cantlay’s highest finish since February came in Austin a few weeks ago when he finished a de-facto 26th, this in spite of the fact that he failed to get out of his four-man group at the match play. A quick start to his Masters last week looked promising for Patrick, but after opening with a 70 he faded away on Friday and Saturday.

Still, it seems like the 2021 Memorial winner may have found something during his time at Augusta last week as he has begun his week at Harbour Town with an opening 66 on Thursday, he then proceeded to continue his ascent to the top of this week’s leaderboard with a 67 on Friday.

His Friday was quite possibly more impressive than his opener as Cantlay, just like the rest of the field, battled adverse conditions during the second round. It was a blustery day on Friday at Harbour Town and the impact was reflected in the scoring during round two as the second round at the RBC Heritage played nearly two strokes more difficult than the Thursday average.

Patrick Cantlay’s Birdie Flurry at the RBC Heritage

Cantlay was on pace for an even-par, 71, on Friday before he produced an electric finish across his closing four holes on the back nine at Harbour Town. The 30-year-old made four consecutive birdies to finish his day and suddenly his putter sparked to life as he made three putts from beyond 10 feet during the closing stretch, this included a 21-foot bomb on the 18th that found the bottom of the cup to emphatically punctuate his round.

The result sent Patrick flying up the leaderboard and he reached the halfway point at 9 under par for the tournament, he will now take a two-shot lead into the weekend at the RBC Heritage. He wasn’t the only one who may have found something this week, however, as Jordan Spieth also appeared to find a spark on Friday.

Jordan Spieth Finds Spark on Friday at RBC Heritage

While Patrick Cantlay has had a bit of a lull during the early part of 2022, Spieth has been completely quiet apart from a runner-up finish at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am earlier in the year, a place that he has always tended to play well at.

Jordan Spieth has missed two cuts and his next best finish this year came back at the Genesis Invitational where he was 26th. As if to add insult to injury on what can only be classified as a difficult year so far, he went on to miss his first-ever cut at the Masters last week.

It’s possible however that the missed cut, as strange as it might sound, may have been to his benefit coming into this week as he would have been afforded extra preparation time coming into the RBC Heritage. Jordan opened with a 69 on Thursday before firing off a 68 during his second round.

Much like Cantlay, he also had a strong back nine on Friday as he closed with three birdies and kept a clean card as he went bogey-free across the closing nine. Arguably the highlight of his round came on the par 4, 12th, when he holed out from the bunker for birdie.

It was vintage magic from Jordan Spieth. He reached the halfway point of this week’s RBC Heritage at 5 under par for the event. Just four shots adrift of Patrick’s lead.

Both players could do with an exceptional weekend as they look to ignite their year. We know what they are both capable of when at their best, and let’s hope for the fan inside each and every one of us, that they are both fighting for the trophy come Sunday evening.