Eye To Eye No Pat Answers

How did 26-year-old Patrick Cantlay become so philosophical about life and his success on the course? One close-to-home tragedy, time away from the game, and some good books.

- Ryan Asselta

In 2018, your first full season on Tour, you had seven top 10s and a win at the Shriners. Can you pinpoint why you experienced such solid success?

Part of it is that it doesn’t feel like my first full season. I’d played a lot of the golf courses already, and I felt ready to play great golf.

You ranked pretty high in several strokes gained categories. What’s the one area of your game you most need to improve?

You can always improve in all areas of the game. I didn’t have a great year putting, but it doesn’t feel that off, so keeping a good mindset and expecting putts to fall is important. Most of the year, it felt like most of my game was on, but I don’t think I had it all going for a stretch of time. I know that’s coming.

You had such a decorated career at UCLA, winning the Haskins Award and the Division I Jack Nicklaus Player of the Year as a freshman. For more than a year, you were the world’s top-ranked amateur. Did that put extra pressure on you when you turned pro?