At the 2011 Travelers Championship, a 19-year-old Patrick Cantlay made PGA Tour history.
Two weeks after taking his final exams to finish his freshman year at UCLA, Cantlay played his first Tour event at the U.S. Open and earned low-amateur honors at Congressional Country Club.
The momentum continued less than a week later. He received a sponsor’s exemption into the Travelers after winning the Haskins and Jack Nicklaus awards as college golf’s top player in 2011.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Cantlay fired a second-round 10-under 60 at TPC River Highlands, the lowest round ever by an amateur on Tour. It’s a record that still stands today, though, it was matched last season by Nick Dunalap the American Express, which he went on to win.
“I do remember making a lot of putts,” Cantlay told Sports Illustrated, “and just feeling like every putt that I was standing over, felt like I was gonna make every single one.”
The opening round that week was washed out. So 36 holes were played that Friday in Connecticut. To some, that may be a detriment, but Cantlay felt it propelled him, with his 60 coming on his second 18 of the day.
“I think it was a big advantage for me,” Cantlay says, “because I still had some nerves going out there in a Tour event and the fact that I got to spend the whole day on the golf course after a rainout, so it’s particularly wet and the weather was very calm and nice, no wind.
“And I got to play 36 holes in that set of conditions that gave me a chance to settle down and really get comfortable with that second 18.”
Cantlay, however, wasn’t aware he was setting a new benchmark during his round. Instead, he realized that 59 was in play, which would have been the sixth sub-60 round on Tour (there are now 15).
Amid a round that had eight birdies and an eagle, Cantlay needed an eagle on the par-4 18th for 59. He gave it a good run, sticking his approach from 152 yards to two feet below the pin.
He’d knock in his ball for birdie—and a record.
“I remember (Cantlay’s playing partner) Billy [Horschel] saying something after I tapped in on 18,” Cantlay says, “and he was just saying how well I played and giving me some words of encouragement. He was fun to be with out there.”
That round also helped build a reputation for Travelers. The tournament has awarded spots in the field to the nation’s top amateur players (though, its exemptions are now limited with it being a limited-field, signature event). That year with Cantlay, they chose wisely. But it’s also a strategy for building one of the PGA Tour’s premier events.
“Giving exemptions to Patrick Cantlay when he’s a freshman at UCLA,” tournament director Nathan Grube said in 2022, “and Justin Thomas is a sophomore at the University of Alabama, Webb Simpson, Rickie Fowler, and just really, really trying to do our research and our homework on kind of who the next generation is, and building relationships with the next generation of guys.”
Mission accomplished.
“In 2011, Travelers I would say was a regular tournament on the PGA Tour," Cantlay says. "And so I was overwhelmed and extremely excited to play, but it wasn't one of the bigger events on Tour.
“Fast forward to now with the work they put into the tournament and the level of care that they’ve shown over the years, they’ve turned this into one of the best, if not the best, PGA Tour event on the schedule.”
And so you can count on seeing Cantlay in Connecticut every June.
“I’m just really grateful to Travelers for having given me the opportunity,” the eight-time Tour winner says, “and I’m still proud to come back and play their tournament every year.”
Cantlay ultimately finished T24 that week after shooting 72-70 over the weekend, a happy experience he still carries today.
“Every time I come back to Travelers,” he says, “I still have good vibes and good energy at this tournament just because of how I played that week and it was some of my earliest memories playing a PGA Tour event.”
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Patrick Cantlay Recalls Scoring Record He Set as Amateur at 2011 Travelers Championship.