2023 BMW Championship: Top 10 power rankings at Olympia Fields

The round of the day on Sunday at the FedEx St. Jude Championship was almost enough for Patrick Cantlay.

After rounds of 68-67-66 had him lurking, a closing 6-under 64 at TPC Southwind snuck him into a playoff with Lucas Glover. Glover was not to be denied his second victory in as many weeks, getting it done with a par to beat a bogey for Cantlay.

A poor tee shot had Cantlay behind the eight ball. It was an ironic finish for a man who led the field in strokes gained tee-to-green (2.26) and who was sixth in SG off-the-tee (.97).

It was another high finish for a man who’s done everything but win this season. His last one came at the 2022 BMW Championship at Wilmington Country Club.

He’s going for a three-peat at three different venues. Cantlay won the 2021 BMW at Caves Valley.

Cantlay’s accrued two second-place finishes and eight top-10s in the 2022-23 PGA Tour season.

He tried to keep it positive afterward in Memphis last week.

"“I’m obviously playing really well, and next week is a golf course that I enjoy,” Cantlay was transcribed by ASAP Sports, “so looking forward to it.”"

He’s among the contingent of players in this week’s field with experience at Olympia Fields. The former UCLA Bruin carded 71-68-75-69 to finish T-12th in 2020. That costly third round got in the way of what was otherwise championship-level golf at a difficult venue.

"“It’s about as stiff of a test as you would want,” Cantlay was transcribed in 2020 by ASAP Sports. “I mean, it’s very, very difficult, and you have to play from the fairway, and you have to play from below the hole, frankly. The greens have so much slope on them that you really need to be putting uphill, and so if you’re in the rough, it gets exponentially harder to do that.”"

Cantlay ranks first on the PGA Tour in total driving (52). He’s top-five in total strokes gained (2.007), tee-to-green (1.585), and off-the-tee (.848).