– Patrick Cantlay (-16) and Tommy Fleetwood (-16) are the co-leaders of the TOUR Championship after the third round. The Englishman, as you can see, is back in the game and has created another excellent chance of victory after 54 holes, the third time he’s done so in the last two months, so far without success. Tommy went into the water on the monstrous 15th hole, par 3, but responded with birdies on the 16th and 17th holes and will be in the leading group on Sunday, although he won’t have someone very reliable by his side…
– That someone, Cantlay, won the 2021 FedEx Cup by playing very well, of course, but also by making the most of the opportunities that luck and the competition format provided. It was the year, for example, when he won the Memorial after Jon Rahm had to withdraw after the third round due to a positive Covid test, when the Spaniard was a commanding leader after 54 holes. Later, he won the second FedEx Cup playoff of that year and, arriving as the ranking leader at the TOUR Championship, he took the FedEx Cup despite having three more strokes than Rahm over the 72 holes, thanks to that controversial format which has now been changed (let’s remember: the ranking leader started with an aggregate of -10)…
Well, this year he has arrived at East Lake as Number 20 in the ranking, Number 23 in the world, and, for example, after missing the cut in the last three Majors, but all that counts for absolutely nothing. If the Californian wins tomorrow, he will take the FedEx Cup again without being the best player during the season, but certainly at the moment when it mattered. Let’s see if someone stops him tomorrow, because he also needs to confirm himself as the captain’s pick for the Ryder.
– Fleetwood could be the one to stop him, certainly. Let’s see how he sleeps tonight, because Cantlay, as mentioned, cares very little about who deserves it more or less. The Englishman, in any case, will have another great opportunity to happily finish the darn tale of once-upon-a-time-there-was-a-guy-who-hadn’t-won-yet-on-the-PGA-Tour-despite-being-an-excellent-player-and-having-had-numerous-chances-to-do-so…
– When it comes to deserving, it is certainly Scottie Scheffler (-12) who most deserves to win the FedEx Cup, something that, of course, we repeat, matters very little to Cantlay, as it should be. The problem is that the World Number One has once again got a bit tangled up today, even though he delivered a more than decent score of 66, four under for the day. First with a very poor start (bogeys on holes 1 and 2) and then missing some short or very short putts.
– Russell Henley (-14) and Keegan Bradley (-13) close the reasonable list of candidates. The captain of the US Ryder team, who had signed a 64 on Friday, delivered a 63 today, the best score of the day, even pushing his chances of making the Ryder team as a player. He is certainly one of the big names of the year. Today, minutes after signing the card, he still didn’t rule out any option, although he admitted he was eager to put this matter to rest. Any conjecture seems valid right now. Here’s one: if he wins the TOUR Championship, he will be included among the six captain’s picks; if he doesn’t win, he won’t be included.
