Fantasy golf advice: One & Done, Wells Fargo Championship

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DUBLIN, Ohio – Jack Nicklaus was watching for something intently in Patrick Cantlay’s final round at the Memorial Tournament Presented by Nationwide. It wasn’t the crisp irons under pressure. It wasn’t hip turn, or club head speed, face angle, or anything else Trackman might measure. It was a smile. “He did it at 15!,â€� Nicklaus interjected in Cantlay’s winners conference when it was suggested Cantlay hadn’t smiled until he putted out on 18 to all but secure his second PGA TOUR victory. The reason Nicklaus was looking for it was some advice he had passed on to Cantlay on Friday at Muirfield Village. You see Cantlay has always had a special relationship with Mr. Nicklaus. From the time he was awarded the Jack Nicklaus Award as the best collegiate player in America in 2011 the two have had a kinship. Nicklaus goes as far to say Cantlay, and all of the other previous winners of the award, are “in many ways my children.â€� But on Friday, having seen Cantlay not turn his stellar talent into more wins since he won in November 2017 at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in Las Vegas, Nicklaus seized an opportunity. “I was in there having lunch after the early morning round on Friday, and he grabbed me aside and said, you need to go out there, have a good time. Look around when you’re out there. Look at all the people having a great time. And then you need to have a great time and realize that that’s why you’re there and relax and go have fun and go win the golf tournament,â€� Cantlay recounted of Nicklaus’ advice. Related: Cantlay’s comeback from tragedy | Tiger cards final-round 67 | FedExCup standings | Final leaderboard “And I definitely said that to myself down the stretch today on the back nine. It put me a little more at ease, and I hit a lot of really nice quality shots with the lead, coming down the stretch.â€� It wasn’t the first time the two had conversed on golfing matters. In fact a few years ago Cantlay went to Nicklaus’ house and the two spent 90 minutes going over strategy for Muirfield Village. Clearly that was time well spent. But this week the 18-time major winner had something he really wanted to get across. “He reminds me a lot of me,â€� Nicklaus said. “I get so wrapped up in what I’m doing I forget about everything else that’s going on around me. And I sit there and say, you know, if I can help them, pass that along, maybe it will help them. And if it did, that’s great. If it didn’t, it didn’t make any difference, he won a golf tournament, either way.â€� The thing with Cantlay is whether he is aware of it or not, he always looks serious. Like Batman serious. He’s locked in. He’s all business. You never see the Phil Mickleson thumbs up to the masses or a Rickie Fowler selfie session. It’s just not his style. “I understand that’s my look. I try and be natural. So I try and be how I am all the time. And that’s kind of how I am all the time,â€� Cantlay shrugs. “I was walking in this morning and somebody said, ‘it can’t be that bad, can it?’ And I don’t even realize that’s the look on my face. I was in a great mood this morning. “But I feel like if I tried to be any way else, it wouldn’t be me. I’d be trying to force it. So I just try and be me out there. I definitely am focused and intent on what I’m doing. And I think that’s part of me and I think that’s part of why I have success.â€� And he had plenty of success on Sunday. His 8-under 64 is the best ever final round by a winner at the Memorial. It pushed him to 19-under 269. Only Tom Lehman (268 in 1994) has been lower over four rounds. He joined Tiger Woods as the only former Nicklaus award winner to win Nicklaus’ tournament. Cantlay is not surprised though. Well he is surprised … but only that he hasn’t won more. This was a guy who spent eons as the world’s best amateur and was touted as better than Jordan Spieth in the junior years. The delay was heavily due to a serious back injury that killed almost three years for him. But once he came back healthy and won, he thought he’d keep winning. “I definitely feel like I’ve had a lot of close calls since my last win. I’m a little surprised it’s taken me this long,â€� Cantlay said. “I really did (think the first win would open the floodgates). I’ve played a lot of really good golf, a lot of really solid golf. And so I think I was closer than it seems. So maybe this one will do it.â€� Maybe it will indeed. And if it does both Patrick and Jack will be smiling.

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NORTON, Mass. — Abraham Ancer of Mexico opened with three straight birdies on his way to a 6-under 65 to take a 1-shot lead Sunday over a familiar figure going into the final round of the Dell Technologies Championship. It wasn’t Tiger Woods, but the guy playing with him — Bryson DeChambeau, who is coming off a four-shot victory in the first FedExCup Playoffs event and shot 63 while playing with Woods for the first time in a tournament. DeChambeau and Tyrrell Hatton (69) were one shot behind. It figures to be another frantic Labor Day finish on the TPC Boston. Ancer, at No. 92 in the FedExCup just hopeful of getting into the top 70 to advance to the playoff event next week outside Philadelphia, was at 13-under 200. A victory would assure a trip to the TOUR Championship and a spot in the Masters. Even with 18 holes left, that’s a long way off. Ten players were within four shots of the lead, a group that included Justin Rose, Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth. Woods had to settle for a 69 that left him in a tie for 16th, six shots behind. At least he saw plenty of good golf. DeChambeau has become of his regular practice partners, though they had never been in the same group until Sunday. DeChambeau opened with two birdies and finished even stronger, with short birdie putts on the 16th and 17th, and then a 5-iron from 237 yards that stopped rolling 2 feet from the hole for an eagle. “He’s my childhood idol,” DeChambeau said. “I’ve admired him my whole entire life. And to be finally able to play with him under tournament conditions, it was different. I was a little nervous, for sure. But I was able to get out there and execute shots and worry about my game and focus on hitting the best shots possible. And I was able to play really well like that.” Not since Vijay Singh in 2008 has anyone captured the opening two FedExCup events. DeChambeau led by four shots at Ridgewood Country Club last week and never was seriously challenged. This time, the 24-year-old Californian will have to come from one shot behind against a 27-year-old playing in only his 49th PGA TOUR event. Hatton had the lead until his approach on the par-4 12th went off a cart path and into the trees, and a search party of some three dozen fans and volunteers never found it. He did well to escape with a double bogey, and then finished with a birdie for a 69. Justin Rose (70) and Cameron Smith (67) were another shot behind, followed by Emiliano Grillo (64) and Kyle Stanley (66). McIlroy was making a charge until hitting into the water on the 16th hole and missing a short putt at the 18th. He had to settle for a 68 and was in a group at 9-under 204 that included Beau Hossler (68), Ryder Cup hopeful Tony Finau (67) and Spieth (68). On another gorgeous day that allowed for good scoring, Spieth didn’t make a birdie until the seventh hole, dropped two shots on the tough stretch of the back nine, answered with two birdies and at least gave himself a chance. Spieth has yet to win this year, and with two events left, still has not secured a spot in the TOUR Championship. More than being six shots behind, Woods has to climb past 15 players. He handled the par 5s, but didn’t make much else and spent some 45 minutes on the putting green after his round. “I didn’t get a lot out of my round today,” Woods said. Looking ahead to Monday, he said he would need a round like he saw from DeChambeau. “I’ve got to make a bunch of birdies, get off to a quick start and just get rolling early,” Woods said. “Kind of do what Bryson did today.” Ancer knows what it’s like to be among the chaotic atmosphere that Woods brings to a tournament. He played in the group ahead of Woods in the third round of the Quicken Loans National, heard the cheers and delivered a 62 that hardly anyone saw. He didn’t play his best from the final group, but it wouldn’t have mattered with Francesco Molinari closing with a 62. Ancer got hot again, putting for birdie on every hole except No. 12, where he made a mental mistake by hitting 3-wood off the tee into a breeze and into a bunker. He was able to advance it only 100 yards on the 510-yard par 4. Even with seven birdies and a 65, Ancer missed three birdie chances inside 10 feet, including a 5-footer on the par-5 18th.

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