In the wake of an action-packed day of NBA playoff basketball, the PGA Tour held its own playoff.
For the second time, Sunday’s Memorial Tournament in Dublin, Ohio went to Patrick Cantlay.
Who defeated Collin Morikawa in the opening hole of a playoff. Both players finished the tournament with a 13-under par score in normal play.
However, on the first hole of the playoffs, he quickly banished that demon by making an excellent par putt from the same distance, leaving morikawa with the burden of matching him.
Unfortunately for morikawa, he was unable to convert on his attempt, handing the victory to cantlay.
The remaining members of the top five were Scottie Scheffler (-11), Branden Grace (-10), and Patrick Reed (-8).
There was no clear winner between Cantlay and Morikawa on Sunday, as they both finished at 1 under par for the round.
After Morikawa birdied the 15th hole to take the lead, Cantlay responded with his own game-tying birdie on the par-5 17th.
Patrick Cantlay Takes Advantage of Jon Rahm’s Absence
World No. 15 Patrick Cantlay, who won this tournament in 2019, and World No. 6 Collin Morikawa, who beat Justin Thomas in a playoff to win the Workday Charity Open here in 2020, both provided thrilling climaxes.
Both players went to bed with an overnight lead after ending the day at 12 under par for 54 holes and were thus relieved of any further responsibility to catch Rahm.
Instead, they spent much of the day’s tumultuous day exchanging places atop the leaderboard with Scottie Scheffler, who started three shots back.
Late birdies from Cantlay and Morikawa helped them pull away from the rest of the field, and they both parred the 18th hole to ensure a playoff.
Cantlay’s bid for the win on the 72nd hole from 25 feet burned the edge after he had birdied the 17th from 24 feet as Morikawa nailed an 11-footer for par to remain in a share of the lead.
Conclusion
Cantlay took home his fourth PGA Tour title and second of the year with this victory.
In addition, in October he won the Zozo Championship after coming back from a three-shot deficit to defeat Justin Thomas and Jon Rahm.
Cantlay is the eighth player in tournament history to win the Memorial more than once, joining the likes of Tiger Woods (five times) and tournament creator Jack Nicklaus (twice).
