This article is part of our Weekly PGA Recap series.
Bryson DeChambeau may be the ultimate driving machine, but Patrick Cantlay turned in a performance for the ages with his putter to steal the BMW Championship in a wild six-hole playoff Sunday at Caves Valley. Cantlay now heads into the season-ending Tour Championship with the best chance to win the FedEx Cup and the $15 million that goes with it.
Oh, and Cantlay also clinched a Ryder Cup berth. And he moved to a career-best No. 4 in the world rankings.
He owes it all to his putter -- and, in fairness, DeChambeau's sudden inability to putt.
Cantlay set a record in the Strokes Gained era by gaining an astounding 14.577 strokes on the field on the greens across the 72 regulation holes. He sank an eye-popping 537.5 feet of putts on the week, only the third golfer to break the 500 barrier since 2003. Both those factoids come courtesy of the PGA Tour.
Cantlay won on the sixth hole of a wild playoff, one that saw DeChambeau miss three birdie putts that would have won it, plus another on the final hole of regulation.
Conversely, Cantlay made an eight-footer to save bogey on 17, which set up a 21-footer for birdie on 18 to force the playoff. There were more in the playoff but none after the 17-footer for birdie on the sixth playoff hole -- because that one ended it when DeChambeau couldn't match from eight feet.
There were so many big putts it was impossible to
Bryson DeChambeau may be the ultimate driving machine, but Patrick Cantlay turned in a performance for the ages with his putter to steal the BMW Championship in a wild six-hole playoff Sunday at Caves Valley. Cantlay now heads into the season-ending Tour Championship with the best chance to win the FedEx Cup and the $15 million that goes with it.
Oh, and Cantlay also clinched a Ryder Cup berth. And he moved to a career-best No. 4 in the world rankings.
He owes it all to his putter -- and, in fairness, DeChambeau's sudden inability to putt.
Cantlay set a record in the Strokes Gained era by gaining an astounding 14.577 strokes on the field on the greens across the 72 regulation holes. He sank an eye-popping 537.5 feet of putts on the week, only the third golfer to break the 500 barrier since 2003. Both those factoids come courtesy of the PGA Tour.
Cantlay won on the sixth hole of a wild playoff, one that saw DeChambeau miss three birdie putts that would have won it, plus another on the final hole of regulation.
Conversely, Cantlay made an eight-footer to save bogey on 17, which set up a 21-footer for birdie on 18 to force the playoff. There were more in the playoff but none after the 17-footer for birdie on the sixth playoff hole -- because that one ended it when DeChambeau couldn't match from eight feet.
There were so many big putts it was impossible to determine which one was the biggest. "But they all mattered, I guess, the same,'' Cantlay said. "I needed all of them.''
Indeed he did.
The win means that Cantlay will start with a two-stroke lead at 10-under-par in the staggered start that now is the Tour Championship. It also moved him into the sixth and final automatic qualifying position in the Ryder Cup standings as the qualifying period ended on Sunday. It was also Cantlay's third win of the year, which moved him to No. 4 in the OWGR and, probably, gives him the inside track to Player of the Year honors.
Really, as good as Cantlay was, he could not have done it without...
DeChambeau had the tournament on his putter so many times, but suddenly it went ice cold – that despite ranking second in the field in SG: Putting. He had a 10-footer for par on 17 that would've likely sealed it and a 12-footer for birdie on 18 that would've won it, then three more birdie tries in the playoff.
The BMW was the best we had seen in months from the, um, mercurial DeChambeau. A win would've been his third of the season, putting him in prime position in the Tour Championship. As it is, DeChambeau will begin at 7-under, three strokes behind Cantlay.
He still has a realistic chance to win the FedEx Cup -- if he can quickly move on from a devastating Sunday.
FEDEXCUP PLAYOFFS
Two guys moved into the top 30: Erik van Rooyen and Sergio Garcia, who knocked out Charley Hoffman and Max Homa.
It's obviously big for Garcia, but it is a career-altering accomplishment for van Rooyen, who made a late-season charge with a win at the Barracuda, a top-10 at last week's Northern Trust and now a solo fifth at Caves Valley. The South African (and Garcia) now get automatic entry into next year's Masters, both Opens, THE PLAYERS, a WGC and the five invitationals (Bay Hill, Memorial, Harbour Town, Colonial and Riviera).
Both Garcia and van Rooyen will begin the Tour Championship at the bottom, in the five-man group that will be 10 strokes behind Cantlay at even par.
Here are the starting positions in the so-called Starting Strokes Format, courtesy of the PGA Tour:
| STARTING STROKES | GOLFER |
| 10-under | Patrick Cantlay |
| 8-under | Tony Finau |
| 7-under | Bryson DeChambeau |
| 6-under | Jon Rahm |
| 5-under | Cameron Smith |
| 4-under | Justin Thomas, Harris English, Abraham Ancer, Jordan Spieth, Sam Burns |
| 3-under | Collin Morikawa, Sungjae Im, Viktor Hovland, Louis Oosthuizen, Dustin Johnson |
| 2-under | Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele, Jason Kokrak, Kevin Na, Brooks Koepka |
| 1-under | Corey Conners, Hideki Matsuyama, Stewart Cink, Joaquin Niemann, Scottie Scheffler, |
| Even Par | Daniel Berger, Erik van Rooyen, Sergio Garcia, Billy Horschel, Patrick Reed |
MONDAY BACKSPIN
Tony Finau, 8-under
Finau predictably never contended at the BMW a week after his breakthrough win at the Northern Trust – though don't lose site that he closed with the round of the day on Sunday, a 9-under 63. He's never finished higher than seventh at the Tour Championship. Still, he'll begin the week at 8-under, in second place and paired with Cantlay on Thursday.
Jon Rahm, 6-under
Rahm had a meh tournament – for him – and thus will begin the Tour Championship in fourth place, four shots behind Cantlay. Certainly not insurmountable. He finished tied for ninth at the BMW -- his 12th top-10 in 17 starts in 2021, yet he never was in contention.
Cameron Smith, 5-under
Smith was not in the mix a week after losing in a playoff to Finau at the Northern Trust. He tied for 34th. But he'll begin the Tour Championship in solo fifth place just five strokes behind Cantlay. It's certainly within range, though Smith has never finished better than 20th in two trips to East Lake.
Justin Thomas and Jordan Spieth, 4-under
These two close friends will start the Tour Championship in the five-man group at 4-under. Yes, they are six shots back of Cantlay, but only five golfers are in front of them. Both are former FedExCup champs – Spieth in 2015, Thomas in 2017 -- and have played superior golf at East Lake. Spieth has a win (2015) and a runner-up. Thomas has two runners-up, including last year, and a third. He's never finished outside the top 10 there.
Dustin Johnson and Collin Morikawa, 3-under
Johnson will be another shot back, starting in the five-man group at 3-under. He tied for sixth at Caves Valley with a 65-66 weekend, his third top-10 in his past five starts. The other two results, however, were missed cuts. Can he win East Lake? The combination of the number of shots back and number of golfers he'd need to pass make it highly unlikely. But he is, in the eyes of the PGA Tour, the defending champion. Morikawa was in prime position when the playoffs started but has fallen far back. He says a back injury that bothered him at the Northern Trust is gone, but at the BMW he struggled with swing issues, leaving him in 63rd place. At least he shot his best round of the week on Sunday, a 69.
Rory McIlroy, Xander Schauffele and Brooks Koepka, 2-under
McIlroy will start in the five-man group at 2-under thanks to solo fourth at the BMW, his best result since winning at Quail Hollow way back in May. His berth in the Tour Championship was not assured entering the week, so he performed when the pressure was on. He's too far back to win, but we have seen McIlroy excel in this tournament as a two-time winner of the FedEx Cup. Schauffele had another subpar week, fading to a tie for 49th. Outside of the Olympics, which don't count, he has not been his top-5 self since the Masters. But he did notch the best 72-hole score last year at East Lake. Koepka had a so-so week at Caves Valley -- he tied for 22nd -- and fell from 15th to 20th in the standings. After a great stretch over the summer with a pair of top-6s at both Opens, he's stumbling to the finish line of the 2020-21 season. Koepka was 54th at the WGC-FedEx, 31st at the Northern Trust and now this. It is uncharacteristic and who knows if Koepka is even fully healthy.
Kevin Kisner
Kisner began the week in 31st place and needed something – but not much – to move into the tour Championship. He tied for last place. It seems impossible to pick someone for the Ryder Cup if they didn't even reach the Tour Championship, but we'll see what captain Steve Stricker decides the day after the Tour Championship ends.
Aaron Wise
Wise did not do nearly enough to move into the top 30. But he did tie for 17th and his performance was noteworthy for one reason: as strange as this sounds, his putting. He ranked 16th in the field in Strokes Gained: Putting. For someone who ranks top-50 on Tour in every other SG category, putting like this could vault Wise to the next level on Tour. We'll learn more probably very shortly after the new PGA Tour season begins in two weeks.
