KAPALUA, HAWAII – JANUARY 03: Cantlay reacts to his birdie putt on the tenth green during the second round of the Sentry Tournament Of Champions at the Kapalua Plantation Course on January 03, 2020, in Kapalua, Hawaii. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
By Kent Gray
Patrick Cantlay will be happy to let his clubs do all the talking between now and his drawcard debut at the $7 million Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.
The 27-year-old Californian is the third high-profile American confirmed for the Jan. 16-19 Rolex Series event at Abu Dhabi Golf Club, joining Brooks Koepka and Bryson DeChambeau, the world’s top-ranked and No.14 players respectively.
With two-time champion Tommy Fleetwood (ranked 10th) also a starter, the Desert Swing opener now boasts three of the world’s top 10 players along with Open champion Shane Lowry who will return to defend the Falcon Trophy.
Cantlay’s signature, along with Norwegian 22-year-old Viktor Hovland, another former amateur world No.1 who will also make his Abu Dhabi bow, adds significant depth to the field. Cantlay, a two-time PGA Tour winner who was world amateur No.1 for 55 weeks before foregoing the final two years of university to turn professional in 2012, is well-placed at the U.S. tour’s season opener currently underway in Hawaii, rounds of 69-71 leaving him tied 5th heading into the third round of the Sentry Tournament of Champions. But it was a private conversation with playing partner Jon Rahm, caught by a tee area microphone in Maui, that has him in the headlines.
Check out the incident set to land Cantlay in hot water with PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan:
I don’t know exactly what Patrick Cantlay is talking about at the beginning, but I love all of it pic.twitter.com/UaSihp5SBp
— Garrett Morrison (@gfordgolf) January 4, 2020
Cantlay will no doubt be more careful with his words from now on. Thankfully the focus in Abu Dhabi will be on a game good enough to capture the 2017 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open and last season’s Memorial Tournament.
He was low amateur at the U.S. Open in 2011 and shot the lowest round by an amateur in a PGA Tour event the following week, a 60 at the Travelers Championship. Cantlay had top 10s in the Masters (T-9) and PGA Championship (T-3) last season. He went on to finish runner-up at the BMW Championship in August – the second event of the FedEx Cup playoffs – before losing to Kevin Na in a playoff at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in October. It was his second successive second-place finish at the tournament.
“I’m very excited to play for the first time in Abu Dhabi,” Cantlay said. “I’ve heard great things about the course, the fans and the experience as a whole. With a such a strong field this year, I’m looking forward to competing against some of the best players in the world and to try and take home the Falcon Trophy.”
Former Masters champions Sergio Garcia and Danny Willett and Ryder Cup talisman Ian Poulter are other big names confirmed for Abu Dhabi while Dubai 15-year-old Josh Hill is set to provide much local interest a week before also teeing it up in the Omega Dubai Desert Classic.
