Patrick Cantlay shifts gears in unusual altitude tracking third BMW title
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Patrick Cantlay plays his shot from the 17th tee during the second round of the FedEx St. Jude Championship.
PHOTO: REUTERS
CASTLE ROCK – The BMW Championship is currently the only leg of the PGA Tour’s FedExCup play-offs that rotates venues every year, and Patrick Cantlay has shown he can bag BMW wins no matter which course is up for its turn.
But the 2024 edition presents an entirely different challenge – an 8,130-yard track at Castle Pines Golf Club in the thin air of Castle Rock, Colorado.
Cantlay, the 2021 and 2022 champion, and the rest of the 50-player field will need to prepare for the unusual distances their shots travel at altitude, plus the other trials that come with this course layout.
“It’s a longer walk, I’ll tell you that,” the American said on Aug 20.
“There’s going to be some tired caddies at the end of this week with the uphill and the downhill and the 8,100 yards. The ball is going farther, but we’ve got to walk all that way.”
The course is set to become the longest in PGA Tour history, the result of golfers’ driving distance combined with the unique environmental circumstances in the Rocky Mountains. Castle Pines is also 1,930m above sea level.
“I think the altitude, with all the help we have with the TrackMans and the devices, it’s pretty easy to see how far it’s going,” Cantlay added.
“We learn new golf courses all the time, so I don’t think it’ll be too big of a change or too difficult.”
The 32-year-old had a memorable play-off win at the 2021 BMW Championship over Bryson DeChambeau. They both torched the course, Caves Valley in Maryland, for a 27-under final score. Cantlay went on to win the 2021 FedExCup and retained his BMW title the following year at Wilmington Country Club in Delaware.
The world No. 9 said he does not know why he has found particular success winning an event that changes scenery every year. He cited his history of playing well in the warm weather of August. However, he has not won on tour since that 2022 BMW triumph.
Tied for third in June’s US Open, he enters the week ranked ninth in FedExCup points, guaranteed to make it to the tour’s season finale, the Tour Championship, next week for a chance at a second FedExCup title.
“I feel good about my game,” Cantlay said.
“I’d say my results have been going in the right direction the last few months. Had a poor first round last week but other than that, I played really well the last three days. So (I’ll) carry some of that momentum into this week.” REUTERS
