ATLANTA – Patrick Cantlay knew he’d have a fight on his hands.
Despite starting The Tour Championship two shots clear of the field because of the staggered scoring format used for the FedEx Cup Playoffs finale, Cantlay knew it wasn’t going to be easy facing the punishing East Lake Golf Club and dealing with bruisers like world No. 1 Jon Rahm, Bryson DeChambeau, and Justin Thomas, as well as many other players able to throw haymakers around this place.
Well, Cantlay has a fight on his hands and it’s going to be quite the rumble to the $15 million grand prize awarded on Sunday.
Cantlay, who started the first round at 10 under, moved to 17 under with a 4-under 66 in Friday’s second round and is one shot clear of Rahm, who started the first round four shots back but tied for the lowest round for the second consecutive day with his second consecutive 65.
Six back is DeChambeau after a 67. Thomas is at 10 under after a 67.
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Five players are at 9 under, including Tony Finau and Viktor Hovland, and two-time FedEx Cup champion Rory McIlroy, 2015 FedEx Cup winner Jordan Spieth and Louis Oosthuizen are at 8 under.
The scoreboard might scream two-man race, but Cantlay and Rahm know that’s not the case. Late in the day, however, it sure seemed like it was a two-man race, as the two combined for eight birdies in the last seven holes. The two separated themselves with each making birdies on the final two holes. And they pushed and inspired each other with their play in the second round.
“You definitely feed off the other player,” Rahm said. “When you have somebody like him who played a round with very few mistakes, it only motivates me to keep doing a little bit better.
Jon Rahm reacts to a missed putt at the 18th hole during the second round of the 2021 Tour Championship. Photo by Brynn Anderson/Associated Press
“Even though I want to focus on myself, every time you see a score, you know he’s not going to let up and he keeps putting it in the fairway and on the green and in the fairway and on the green, it can raise your playing level a little bit as much as me raising his level when I’m making birdies. We definitely feed off each other and that’s probably why you see the difference in the scoreboard right now.”
Cantlay hasn’t worried about the leaderboard. Instead, he’s been focused on one thing: playing the best golf he can.
“I think everything that I’m telling myself is just to stay totally present and shoot the lowest score I can every day and not get ahead of myself,” Cantlay said. “Sunday will feel like a normal Sunday, I’m sure, but until then, I think it’s really important to stay present and I’ve done a good job of that so far.”
His putter – which set a record for Strokes Gained: Putting last week in his six-hole playoff victory against DeChambeau – has been sputtering.
“I thought the two rounds were very similar, mostly mistake-free, and I hit the ball pretty well, kept the ball in control, fat side mostly, and had really nice speed on the greens and just didn’t make very much,” Cantlay said. “But that can kind of be this golf course because of the degree of slope they put the pins on is very extreme. So you have putts and you might be 10, 12 feet, but you almost have to be a little defensive or at least you have to be careful because the pins are on so much slope. But I thought it was a good start.
“I’m playing really well, and I think I’m playing the golf course the right way.”
Rahm likes his position, too.
“At this point it just feels like we played two rounds and I’m going to go into the weekend in a great position,” he said. “That’s about it. Starting four shots back over 72 holes, it truly isn’t that much. It’s one shot a round and that is absolutely nothing. I mean, bigger leads have been overcome in a lot shorter time.
“I’m just going to keep doing exactly what I’ve been doing this week, nothing special. Again, just trying to hit the best shot I can at each moment. That’s it.”