2022 Travelers Championship: Top 10 Power Rankings at TPC River Highlands

While he never quite had enough to contend at last week’s U.S. Open, Patrick Cantlay can take solace in playing his final 13 holes bogey-free en route to a 69 and T-14th finish.

A top-10 player in the world should expect more than that, but it’s a step in the right direction and his best result in a major since the 2019 PGA Championship.

What he lacks in the big four tournaments, he at least partially makes up for the rest of the year.

Cantlay was a two-time winner in the 2020-21 PGA Tour season. He and Xander Schauffele won the Zurich Classic of New Orleans this season to go with two runner-ups and six top-10s for Cantlay.

Recent form shows five top-15s in his last six starts.

Cantlay was an all-world amateur and collegiate player at UCLA. In 2011, he posted T-21st at the U.S. Open to take low amateur honors. A week later at the Travelers Championship, he fired a course record 10-under-par 60. It remains the lowest round in PGA Tour history by an amateur.

He went on to take T-24th at his Travelers debut. He missed the next two cuts at this event, but since 2018 has never missed the top-15: T-15th (69-68-65-68), T-15th (66-72-65-69), T-11th (66-67-69-65), and T-13th (68-66-70-68).

“…it’s nice to come back to a place where you’ve had success,” Cantlay was quoted by ASAP Sports in 2019. “I definitely feel comfortable around here. It’s one of the only golf courses I think I get on the first tee at the beginning of the day and think I can birdie every hole. That’s what it feels like.”

The 30-year-old is 14th on the PGA Tour in total strokes gained per round (1.438) and has all the tools when he’s clicking. He’s sixth in birdie average (4.38), which is key at a tournament where you have to take advantage of opportunities.