卡梅隆·莫菲特
PGATour.com

ATLANTA – The road to the FedExCup title began with 开始ing Strokes, with No. 1 seed Patrick Cantlay staked to an early lead at the 30-man TOUR Championship.

但实际上，通往联邦杯的道路早在那之前就开始了. 更早. 事实上, 坎特雷(最后一轮69, 21 under total) began mapping out his one-shot victory over Jon Rahm (68) years ago, 在长滩的弗吉尼亚乡村俱乐部, 加州. 已经是一个有成就的大三学生了, 他会研究年长的人, 更有成就的球员，如保罗·戈多斯和约翰·库克. 他们在哪些方面做得好? 他能学到什么呢?

这种成熟的过程现在已经进入了超速, first with Cantlay’s lights-out putting and overtime victory over Bryson DeChambeau at the BMW Championship – earning a new moniker, “Patty Ice” – and now with his wire-to-wire victory at the TOUR Championship, 在那里，他获得了新的绰号，赢得了联邦杯.

“你知道, as good as it felt to feel like I slept on the lead for two straight weeks darned near, it feels good to not necessarily have the lead anymore and be done and closed out,他说. “这是漫长的一年，打了大量的高尔夫，承受了大量的压力.

“但我很感激也很高兴来到这里,他继续说, “and I'm really proud of myself for staying in the moment and delivering when it counted.”

奇怪的是, 的绰号, which was emblazoned on the back of an Atlanta Falcons jersey for this week, 是一个因素. It wasn’t the name itself; it was the feeling behind it. 

“这可能是另一个昵称, 但他真的很感激球迷们对他的支持,马特部长说, 坎特利过去四年半的球童. “因为直到上周, 每个人都在为之欢呼, 然后他们真的开始为他欢呼. 这才是关键所在，他们支持他.”

坎特雷以前的绰号?

“Sheldon, from ‘Big Bang Theory,’” Jamie Mulligan, his coach, said with a laugh.

Let the record show that your new FedExCup champ has traveled a long road that was by turns predictable and ghastly. 经历了这一切, 虽然, he has held tight to perhaps his greatest strength: knowing precisely what to let soak in, 以及该让什么溜走.

坎特雷的教练说，他今年29岁，快要84岁了.

“He hasn’t probably ever listened to a full song that was written after 1979,” Mulligan said. “他在听齐柏林飞艇、杰克逊·布朗和奶油的歌.”

他读比那更古老的有影响力人物的传记.

Then again, Cantlay isn’t entirely swayed by the wisdom of his elders. His parents went to USC; he went to UCLA, where he won the Fred Haskins and Jack Nicklaus awards.

他在2011年旅行者锦标赛第二轮打出60杆, 美巡赛历史上第一个业余选手超过60名的冠军, 宣布他作为一股力量到来. 2012年6月，坎特雷在大二毕业后成为职业选手. He played the Korn Ferry Tour, took the odd sponsor’s exemption on the big TOUR. 一切都在按计划进行.

然后就不是这样了. 坎特雷当时在德克萨斯州的殖民乡村俱乐部, 为第二轮嘉信理财挑战赛热身, 感觉像是有人从背后捅了他一刀. 他出发了，但他噩梦般的冒险才刚刚开始.

经过7个月的休息，他的背部仍然不舒服. Cantlay在2014年陷入困境, 2015年完全没有参加, 2016年初，他仍然感觉不舒服.

悲剧就这样发生了. 坎特雷和他最好的朋友, 克里斯•罗斯, had drawn up plans back at 皇冠足彩官方 in Anaheim: Cantlay would play the TOUR, 罗斯是他的球童. 但这些计划都被叫停了. 有一天晚上, 和坎特雷一起出去, Roth was hit by a car and killed while crossing the street on the way to a restaurant in Newport Beach. 坎特雷后来说:“这只是一桩古怪的、百万分之一的交易。.

2016年剩下的时间里，他都在重建情绪和身体. He 2017年回归, 由于担心他的L5椎体，行动受限, 在他第二次开始的时候就完成了他的主要医疗扩展. The turning point came seemingly out of nowhere: a runner-up finish to Adam Hadwin at the Valspar Championship.

“I think the biggest thing is it's given me great perspective,” Cantlay said Sunday of his trials. “我认为很长一段时间以来，一切都很顺利. 成长的过程中, I felt like I got better and better in golf and life got better and better, 然后事情就变得很糟糕了. 有那么一段时间，我的情绪低落到了极点.

“从另一边走出来, I feel like I am a better person having gone through those dark days,他继续说. “But it gives me great perspective and it makes me very grateful to be in the position I'm in today, 因为并不总是十拿九稳. 我几乎就要回到学校，把高尔夫抛在脑后了.”

He got his first win at the 2018 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. He moved to South Florida, where he could be around peers like Justin Thomas. His maturation gathered even more momentum when he had a chance to win the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide but finished fourth.

He sought the counsel of Jack Nicklaus and was told to look up and enjoy himself the next time he was in such a situation. 第二年(2019年)他获得了纪念奖.

“首先, 他的身体已经成熟了,部长说, 当被问及他在老板身上看到的变化时. “我第一次见到他时，他大约有180磅重. 现在他有200磅了. 他胖了起来，变成了一个男人. 他强壮多了. He hits the ball not as far as some of the long hitters, but he can hold his own.”

As his turnaround at the Memorial suggests, the change has been more than physical.   

“一年一年过去了, 他在这些情况下表现得更好, 更好地应付人群, 在媒体上表现更好,部长说. “His interviews are fantastic; you see it with each passing year, 他的成熟和他在这里的舒适.”

Staked to a lead over the rest of the 30-man field at the TOUR Championship, Cantlay got perhaps the greatest test of mental stamina of his career. He passed with flying colors, making no worse than bogey and refusing to help the chase pack. 

最可怕的时刻发生在周日的第17洞, 但拉姆错过了11英尺的小鸟推杆, 和Cantlay, 在错过了他的开球和右进近后，他偏离了位置, 还有一个不合格的芯片, 用6英尺做的忌, 将伤害限制在一枪之内.

当一切结束, 所有的功课都在长辈的膝头上, 艰难时期, 搬到南佛罗里达, the newly won “Patty Ice” handle – Cantlay had soaked up and lived into every ounce of whatever could help him. 他会让其他的顺其自然.

The old 灵魂 was a man in full, a complete player, and a FedExCup champion.