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TOUR CHAMPIONSHIP

August 21, 2019

Patrick Cantlay

Atlanta, Georgia

THE MODERATOR: I'd like to welcome Patrick Cantlay in here. Congrats on a great finish last week, No. 2 in the FedExCup standings. Obviously in a great spot. Could you just provide some opening comments on being here and chasing that ultimate prize.

PATRICK CANTLAY: Yeah, it was a solid year obviously to get here. Happy to be in the spot I'm in. Could only really do one spot better as far as the FedExCup is concerned. I'm in a good spot given this year's format and I'm looking forward to the week. It's a golf course I like, and I think it suits my game. As long as I stay cool out there and don't get too hot, it should be a good week.

Q. (No microphone)
PATRICK CANTLAY: It's going to be hot. It's always hot this week. Being from California, I'm not used to the 90s and humidity. But now that I've been in Jupiter for a couple of years, I'm getting used to it.

Q. You've had the chance, obviously, to play with Justin when he had a lead more sizable than he has now. How tough is he going to be to run down? What is your kind of game plan for doing that?
PATRICK CANTLAY: I think the way -- this new format kind of leads people to talk about it and running you down -- running somebody down just because of how it starts and how abnormal that is. But, really, if I was to play this tournament and someone said you've got to beat Justin Thomas by two, but you've got to beat Koepka by -- he'll give you a shot or whatever -- like I would never think about it that way. So I'm just thinking about doing my best on this golf course this week, and then come Sunday, I'll look at the leader board and see where I'm at and maybe change the idea in my head of what it's like. Because all that matters is how you finish given the new scoring.

But as far as getting there, I'm not really thinking about it in terms of chasing anybody down or staying ahead of anybody, more really trying to figure out the golf course the best and sticking to my game plan and being committed. That's what I do every week, so that's what I'm going to do this week as well.

Q. Could you please name two or three holes that might be decisive on the golf course regarding a lot of risk you can take but a lot of earning you can do at the same moment.
PATRICK CANTLAY: I think the golf course is very good and, in general, there's no real tricky holes or anything like that. I think there's some holes with water, like 8, I think. 8 is a tough hole and usually is one of the toughest holes all year. So putting the ball in the fairway on a certain -- on a couple holes is really important, 8 being one of them.

I think actually one of the good things about this golf course is that, in general, the score never gets too crazy. So you don't have to make a ton of birdies, and it really rewards smart, solid golf.

Q. What is more important out there, the mental strength or the very good ball striking? What do you think is more effective and more important to really win the big thing?
PATRICK CANTLAY: Well, I think those two are very related as the more focused and the more mentally strong you are, the better shots you're going to hit. It would be weird for me to pick one or the other because they're so interconnected, and the better you can be mentally focused, the better you're going to ball strike it, and everyone's going to hit some loose shots. So realizing that and trying to do your best to focus in on every shot and give it everything is really the key for me, and I think key for a lot of people out there.

Q. Patrick, as competitive as you are, how would you feel if you won the FedExCup but did not post the lowest 72-hole total?
PATRICK CANTLAY: That's a good question. I think I'd be extremely excited to win, and then after seeing -- someone's going to keep track of how everyone plays that week. So at the first, I'd be totally elated to win and happy and feel like I did what I set out to do. And then if I heard later that somebody edged me by a shot for the week or something like that, I'd be a little, you know, bummed or miffed.

Obviously, there's no real prize, other than world ranking points, for having the lowest total this week, so the number one goal is finishing on top of the leader board at the end of the week.

Q. Is there another athlete or a few that have intrigued you in terms of the way they go about their sport? Have you ever studied other athletes in that regard?
PATRICK CANTLAY: Yeah, I've read some biographies and some stuff about a few athletes, connected a little bit about Bjorn Borg's mentality of: All I do all the time is focus on the point or the shot that's in front of me and everybody else can worry about what's going on in the match or what everything is like, or the people or the referee they don't like or whatever it is. But that's not important. Really if I just focus on the point or the shot that's in front of me, I'm going to end up ahead more times than not.

And that really is the most important thing or best thing you can do. If you really think about what's going on, is your golf ball gets put on the 1st tee, and then you try to get it to the best possible spot. Wherever it goes, you get to your golf ball, and you try to get it to the next best possible spot from where you're at. And as long as you stay in the moment and realize that you're competent enough to move the golf ball around from wherever it is, I think that's really what the game is when you break it down. And everybody tends to get lost in the bigger stuff that is not that, and I try and really dial it down to that.

Q. Where did you read that?
PATRICK CANTLAY: I can't remember exactly where I read it. I read a few things about him, but I don't know exactly where that particular quote -- and I was paraphrasing. That wasn't exactly what he said.

Q. It seems like people are pretty taken aback by some of the money on the line this week. I just wonder like, amongst you guys, how do you kind of view that? Is it like you're catching up with other sports, NBA contracts and things like that? How do you guys kind of square this?
PATRICK CANTLAY: You know, it's not something that I really put on the forefront. So I put the forefront on winning golf tournaments and showing up as prepared as I can. And then where that other stuff ends up, the more times I execute winning golf tournaments, the better that stuff will be. I'm out here to win golf tournaments and prepare to win golf tournaments, and I know the better that I do that, the more financial opportunity I'll have.

It's not on the forefront of what I'm thinking about. It's more like don't count your chickens before they hatch, and just go about your business and everything will be fine.

Q. Just as a follow, do you think -- would it be crazy to consider as these numbers swell and swell, and they're obviously only going to get larger, that for like the best of the best in the world, that it could potentially shorten some careers of guys who might not need to keep playing at the highest level or play that many times a year. Is that a reasonable thing to be talking about now?
PATRICK CANTLAY: I haven't really given it much thought in particular. I would say, sure, if your motivation was I'm going to play golf because I want to make $20 million and then I'm going to quit, and then they get to $20 million faster than they would, then, sure, that guys might quit. That's not how I go about it. That's not how I think about things. I enjoy competing, and that's why I like to play golf.

It's a good question. I'd be curious to see if careers are shorter, but then I'd really be interested to see if it's a correlation or causation on whether it's the money. And I don't know if you'll ever get a really great answer for that.

Q. You've played with Patrick Reed in the past two Zuriches. What do you like about him, and what made you seek him out to where you thought he'd be a good partner for you?
PATRICK CANTLAY: Well, I really enjoy competitive people, so having him on my team, I always felt like, just like me, he was going to be as competitive and in every shot, no matter where the golf ball was. So I played a practice round with him in the Western Amateur, when I was maybe 16 years old. He's a few years older than me. So I've always had great interactions with Patrick, and he's been nothing but a totally stand-up guy with me from even when we first played that practice round.

So it was kind of natural for me to ask him if he was playing in the event. Fortunately, when I was first coming back, you know, I wasn't sure if anybody would really want to play with me. I hadn't played very many tournaments in three years -- none really. So I was really happy that he decided to play with me because I felt like we had a good chance to win.

Q. Is there a game aspect too or just personality?
PATRICK CANTLAY: Say that again?

Q. Is there an aspect of where your games gel up well together team-wise or just personality mostly? Or you're both just good?
PATRICK CANTLAY: I mean, you want to play with the best player you possibly can. I don't really -- I'd have to ask a stats person that probably knows a little better than me as far as games matching up. But, in general, my sense would be you just want to play with the best player that you can. If you're good and they're good, you've got a better chance to win than most everybody else.

Q. Patrick, kind of another money question. If you're walking toward the 72nd green on Sunday and you've got the FedExCup clinched, will there be any thoughts about I'm just about to win $15 million? Will you let your mind wander to that at all?
PATRICK CANTLAY: Probably knowing there's a sneaky leader board out there would make me want to make birdie on the last hole so I could make sure that I was also as high as I could be on the other thing. That's exactly kind of to my point about focusing on every shot and moving your golf ball around and just getting totally immersed in doing that over and over and over again, that process.

I think you could get caught up in something like that and lose your attention or lose your focus and your intensity, and I don't think that helps you. So I would really stick to my process and focus on just doing everything I can to move my golf ball into the next best spot.

Q. What would be more meaningful to you, to win a Major or win the FedExCup?
PATRICK CANTLAY: Major, for obvious reasons.

Q. What are those reasons? Because I think from a points standpoint, it's not obvious to people.
PATRICK CANTLAY: From a points?

Q. Points standpoint. I mean, winning one of the first two events here, you got 2,000 points compared to 600 for a Major.
PATRICK CANTLAY: Okay. Well, I think, at the end of anyone's career -- how many times did Nicklaus win the TOUR Championship? Anybody? No times? No one says that. But you know exactly when he won the Majors, where he won the Majors, how many he won. Like I said, I play golf for going out and winning golf tournaments. And so those are the premier golf tournaments that we play all year, and they're what I prep for the most and get excited for the most. So it would still be Majors.

Q. Patrick, granted this isn't a perfect comparison, but if Justin Thomas said to you, hey, let's go play a match. Oh, by the way, you've got to give me two shots. What would be your reaction?
PATRICK CANTLAY: I would hope that I got some odds, and I'd ask how many holes we were playing.

Q. 72.
PATRICK CANTLAY: Yeah, 72 holes, I'd still want some odds. I think, big picture, I'm in a lot better position than most everybody else, and it will be interesting to see how it plays out. None of us have ever played a tournament that has this format or a format even like it. So we'll see.

Q. When did you first look at a leader board on Sunday Memorial?
PATRICK CANTLAY: Well, I knew where I started on the 1st hole, if that counts. They've got leader boards all over there, but no electronic leader boards. I think, if I remember right, Martin was ahead, and he made some early birdies. So it felt like I was always chasing all day. And it felt like I needed to make more and more birdies. Even when I was making the turn and had shot four or five under on the front nine, I knew I still needed to make birdies. And not until about 15, when I made birdie and I got up onto that green that I realized he had made a few bogeys, and I was up in the lead or maybe one shot ahead or tied for the lead or something.

So my mentality, I would say, switched a little bit on 15, where I realized that, if I could roll in the eagle putt or make birdie, that I was more in control than I had been the rest of the day and that I didn't necessarily need to force anything to make more birdies, which is kind of the mentality that I had before, where I felt like I needed to make birdies. After 15, I realized I didn't need to make a lot more birdies. One would have been a lot, but a little change in strategy, a little change in how it felt where I was in the tournament.

Q. You said making the turn, you still have to make birdies. Did you play the first 10 through 13 a little more aggressively than normal then to try to keep chasing him?
PATRICK CANTLAY: Could be. I think -- when someone's ahead and you see him making birdies and you know -- you get the sense that they're going to keep making birdies. So I knew that I still -- like my work hadn't been done, and on that golf course at least, there's certain holes that are par holes and certain holes that are birdie holes. So I knew making a birdie at 11 would be big. Par from where I drove it on 10 was a really nice par. And then feeling, once you get past 12, if you can birdie 11 and get past the 12th hole -- because you can have disaster there. It's a hard shot -- then you feel like you're a little more home-free and feel like you can birdie 15. And fortunately I birdied 14 as well. That's my mentality.

There's certainly holes where you feel like you should make a birdie, 11 and 15, and 14 feels like you can birdie if you do well. 12 and 10, they're difficult holes and you feel like you're doing right if you make a par.

Q. Patrick, I see that this is your third time competing in this event. I was just checking your scores, and you shot 65 and 66, but yet quite haven't contended for this title. From what you talked about, the preparation, any particular thing that you prepare for this event? And also an additional question is about being from California. How much of a challenge is it for you to get used to this Bermuda grass, southern Bermuda, if you will?
PATRICK CANTLAY: In terms of the grass and the weather, I've been in Florida the last two years and have lived there mostly full-time, so that's becoming normal. I've played plenty of Bermuda golf courses and played well on Bermuda golf courses. I like the golf course. I think I like the old traditional golf course where you need to strike the golf ball really well and play well off the tee and leave your golf ball under hole locations.

I think this is the best form I've had coming into this tournament, and it's definitely the most rested I've felt. The first year I came back, I only played 13 or so events that year, and the whole year I didn't play more than one in a row. So I didn't play two weeks in a row all year until the playoffs. So by the time I got here, it was either four out of five weeks or three in a row, or I think it was three and then a week off and then this week. So I was dragging a little bit, and I wasn't used to it.

Similarly last year, I think it was three in a row to finish or something like that. So I've done a better job managing my energy levels. And then there's been one less playoff event this year. Definitely that's been on the forefront of my mind to come into this event really fresh. Took Monday off and didn't really do a lot.

So I think that's key for me going into tournament week is to feel like I have enough energy, and that way I can focus as much as I need to.

Q. Two things, Pat. Is your back an issue? If it's not, when's the last time it was?
PATRICK CANTLAY: My back's not an issue and hasn't been an issue for a while. I would say what I'm really proud of is, since coming back, I've never had to withdraw from a tournament for not feeling right. And I've never really felt like my back's kept me from practicing at all. And I have a good game plan for feeling good all the time, and I spend a lot of time doing that.

The last time -- definitely when I came back that first year, not every week was perfect, but after having the off-season after the first year, I had some more time to really rest after having a full year of -- I don't want to say testing it out -- but conditioning it. And really since the first year I came back, those 13 events, I really haven't had any issues.

Q. Secondly, you've got a Presidents Cup at the very, very end of the year, and I'm just curious what you're going to do leading up to that.
PATRICK CANTLAY: Yeah, I'll play some events in the fall. I'm not entirely sure which ones exactly yet. Most likely Vegas. I've had some good success there. I'll definitely take some time off, spend some time in the gym. I like to read a lot. So I'll read, hang out with my friends, maybe take a vacation somewhere, lay low, and really enjoy the time off.

With this new compressed season, it feels even more than last season, like I'm looking forward to some time off and like I need it. I'm excited to do that and spend some time with friends and family and enjoy the off time after a year of hard work.

Q. How much time do you need to get sharp again?
PATRICK CANTLAY: That's a good question. If I knew exactly the answer, I could give you an exact answer.

Q. Like a ballpark.
PATRICK CANTLAY: I think for me ten days or a couple weeks of playing and practicing and practicing early in that time frame, and then playing rounds and playing games closer to the event, I think is probably my time frame. So if I got a month, I'll probably -- if I had a month off and then I had a tournament on the fifth week, I would probably take the first, I don't know, 16 or so days off, the first 2 1/2 weeks or 2 weeks off and come back. Usually after a couple weeks, two, three weeks, I start to feel like I'm ready to practice again.

You want that feeling of feeling like you want to go practice. And I think it's really important to take the right amount of time off where you can get that feeling again, where you're excited to go work on your game.

Q. What's a book you read this year that had an impact on you?
PATRICK CANTLAY: I'm in the middle of Why We Sleep, which is a pretty interesting book. So that's kind of changed my habits just a little bit. Always tried to be a good sleeper. I read a book that maybe changed my thinking the most, called Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman. I don't know if I read it this year. I may have read it the year before.

But it's all about realizing your bias and how your brain can maybe play tricks on you in certain situations or opportunities in life. And being more cognizant of that, you can better make decisions that will benefit you down the road. And I think, after having read that book, I try to realize where my biases are, realize how I can best spend my time and how best to make decisions, and I think it's helped me both on and off the golf course.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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