Cantlay edges DeChambeau to win BMW Championship

WASHINGTON: Patrick Cantlay drained a 17-foot birdie putt at the sixth playoff hole on Sunday to deny Bryson DeChambeau and win the US PGA Tour BMW Championship.

Cantlay secured his fifth Tour title — and his third of the year — when DeChambeau was unable to get his own eight-foot birdie attempt to drop, an agonizing defeat for a player who had looks at potential tournament-winning putts at the 72nd hole and first three playoff holes.

“I’m as focused as I can be on every single shot, and I try not to let my mind get past the moment that I’m in,” Cantlay said. “Then I kind of let the chips fall where they do. I try not to get caught up in being out-driven 45 yards or whatever it is. I just try and lock in and do my absolute best in that moment, and my best is pretty good.”

The last-group playing partners started the day tied for the lead and carded six-under par 66s to finish on 27-under 261 — four strokes in front of South Korean Im Sung-jae. The victory in the second of three PGA Tour playoff events sends Cantlay into the concluding Tour Championship atop the playoff standings and in pole position to claim the FedEx Cup top prize of $15 million.

Cantlay rolled in a 21-foot birdie putt at the 72nd hole to pull even, piling the pressure on DeChambeau who couldn’t get his 12-foot birdie attempt for the win to drop. DeChambeau had taken a one-shot lead with a birdie at the par-five 16th, and appeared to be in full control when Cantlay hit his tee shot into the water at the par-three 17th.

But both players ended up with bogey there, Cantlay making a clutch eight-footer to limit the damage as DeChambeau’s poor chip from the greenside rough left him a 10-footer for par that he missed.

The two had been neck-and-neck all day, DeChambeau using his long-hitting aggressive style and Cantlay a more methodical approach. “My game feels really good,” Cantlay said. “It has for a while now, since the Memorial, and I’m finally starting to putt like me again. It’s really nice.”

DeChambeau had three birdies on the front nine, while Cantlay had four birdies and a bogey as they made the turn tied for the lead at 24-under par. DeChambeau edged ahead with three birdies in a row at the 10th, 11th and 12th, bombing a 332-yard drive at the 11th and making a five-footer for birdie before rattling in a 10-footer at the par-five 12th.