Cantlay chooses Pebble beauty over Saudi payoff
PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — So Pebble Beach, despite a misquoted observation, isn’t the greatest meeting of land and water in the world, but the view on Wednesday — sun glistening on Carmel Bay — was overwhelming,
A highlight of practice rounds for the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, a sparkling, enticing invitation to a place Patrick Cantlay calls “the epitome of California golf.”
Cantlay, currently No. 4 in the world ranking, is a home state guy all the way. He was born in Long Beach, went to UCLA and chose familiarity and natural beauty over the lure of a huge payoff.
Not that he wouldn’t someday change his mind.
There’s another tournament about to start on Thursday, head to head against the AT&T some 5,000 miles away, where the setting may be less inviting unless you’re big on sand dunes, but the money is enormous — the Saudi Arabia Invitational.
The PGA Tour gave exemptions to those who chose the Saudi event — and please don’t ask about politics; “we’re only going there to play golf” — but below the surface is a bigger issue, the future of the pro game..
The Saudi tournament is part of the DP Tour, which used to be the European Tour, and because Greg Norman is maneuvering behind the scenes, the probability is there’s only going to be one tour, with the biggest names.
This time a former AT&T winner, Dustin Johnson; a former Masters champion, Patrick Reed (as Johnson is also); Tony Fine; and (gadzooks) even five-time AT&T champ Phil Mickelson are there.
But former U.S. Open, British Open and Masters champ Jordan Spieth (who endorses AT&T products) and Cantlay are here. So was defending AT&T winner Daniel Berger, until he was forced to withdraw because of a back injury.
Cantlay perhaps is the least famous of the most famous golfers on the globe. As an amateur, he was No. 1 in the world. Then last summer, he not only won the FedEx Cup but did it in a fashion, making putt after putt under pressure, which gained him the nickname, “Patty Ice” — he was that cool.
He may not yet register on a scale with Tiger Woods or Mickelson, but his colleagues know how good he is, especially around the greens, where golf is decided.
What Cantlay (who turns 30 next month, on St. Patrick’s Day), decided was to stay loyal and stay close by. Not that he didn’t pay attention to Saudi Arabia.
“I think with the amount of money they're talking about,” he said, “it's always very tempting. I think it's tempting for everybody. And to deny that would be, you know, maybe not true.”
The actual Saudi purse is smaller than the $8.7 million AT&T purse, but there are reports that golfers will be paid tens of millions in fees, illegal on the PGA Tour.
“But I'm really glad that I'm here this week,” said Cantlay, “and I love Pebble Beach and so that definitely factored into my decision.”
Golf and tennis are dependent on the recognition factor, on fame, personality — as Tiger’s presence verified. People would flock to see him, even if they didn’t know a thing about the sport.
If golf does shift toward a super tour, grabbing away the crème de la crème, where does it leave those left outside? Will anyone care about the minor leaguers, as it were?
“I think it's a complicated thing, and I don't think there's an easy answer,” Cantlay said. “If people want to be more interested in golf and want to put more money into golf, I think that's a good thing. I think definitely there's a want of the best players in the world to play against the other best players in the world, and so it's hard to quantify exactly.
“Some move the needle more than others, and some are at the top of the game more than others.“
Right now, with the beauty of Pebble Beach as a backdrop, Cantlay can concentrate on a more specific issue, playing well.