Patrick Cantlay uses Jack Nicklaus’ advice to win Jack’s tournament

Patrick Cantlay erased a four-shot deficit with a bogey-free 64 on Sunday to win the Memorial Tournament at Muirfield Village

Earlier this week, when Patrick Cantlay sought a fix to his problem of not being able to close out golf tournaments, he went to an expert on the subject.

Jack Nicklaus, 18-time major champion and host of the Memorial Tournament, gave Cantlay what must have been good advice. Because on Sunday, Cantlay used what Jack told him to go out and shoot the lowest final round ever by a champion at the Memorial.

Cantlay ended the Memorial with a bogey-free, eight-under round of 64 at Muirfield Village, winning his second PGA Tour title by two shots over Adam Scott. The win is Cantlay’s first on tour since the 2017 Shriners Hospitals Open.

At the start of the round, it looked like the tournament would come down to a battle between the two major champions. Martin Kaymer led Scott by two shots, with Cantlay part of a group four behind. Cantlay, though, got off to a quick start with birdies on two of his first five holes. He then ran off a streak of three straight birdies beginning at the seventh hole, rolling in a 12-foot putt for birdie at the ninth to get to 16-under making the turn.

At the par-five 11th, Cantlay hit his second shot from 267 yards to 11 feet, and while he missed the eagle putt he tapped in for birdie to take a share of the lead. After making an 18-footer for birdie at the 14th he was the sole leader at 18-under. He found the green in two again at the par-five 15th and two-putted for his eighth birdie of the round.

Getting into contention on Sunday is something that Cantlay is good at. It’s finishing off the win that he’s found difficult. Cantlay already has three top-three finishes so far this season, including two weeks ago at the PGA Championship. In the final round of the Masters in April, lost in Tiger Woods’ victory is that Cantlay briefly took the lead on the back-nine before bogeys at both 16 and 17. Determined to change this alarming trend, he approached Nicklaus, whom he had first met while in college in 2011 after winning the Jack Nicklaus Award as the player of the year.

What Nicklaus told him was just to enjoy the moment. “He said just to relax and have fun,” Cantlay said after the tournament. “Look around and see all the people having fun and try to smile. Just have a good time with it. That’s why you’re here.”

He needed all the advice he could get on the 18th. In a greenside bunker with his approach shot, Cantlay chipped out to eight feet and made the putt for par to seal the victory. He finished at 19-under, one off the tournament record. Jack’s advice worked.

“I definitely felt like that today. I felt at ease,” Cantlay said. “Having his words in my head coming down the stretch and being able to close like that, it’s a lot of good feelings.”

Scott made three straight birdies beginning at the 14th hole to get within sight of Cantlay’s lead, but his chances for his first victory in three years mostly evaporated when his putt for birdie at 17 narrowly slipped by the hole. He shot four-under 68 to finish at 17-under. Kaymer, himself looking for his first win since capturing his second major at the U.S. Open in 2014, was three-under through seven holes but made four bogeys the rest of the round. He finished with an even-par 72 and fell into third place at 15-under.

It was Cantlay who got the ceremonial handshake with the tournament host behind the 18th green on Sunday. The handshake turned into more of a full embrace as two players separated by more than 50 years shared a special moment that began with a simple request for advice.