“Stop walking, Patrick!”
Bryson DeChambeau and Patrick Cantlay served up a final day classic at the BMW Championship.
Both men finished on -27 and then slugged it out over six gripping playoff holes. It was golf at the highest level as both men peppered the flag-stick and dropped clutch putts. DeChambeau looked to have it won, but his putter went cold on the second and third playoff holes.
Neither Cantlay or DeChambeau have a fond regard for each other. There is respect there, of course, but there was a biting undercurrent throughout a gripping final day, and that only spilled over to the playoff.
DeChambeau was walking machismo and he performed club twirls, talked his shots down, joshed loudly with his caddy and fist-pumped patrons lining the fairways.
Bryson DeChambeau greets fans during the final round of the BMW Championship at Caves Valley Golf Club. (Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)Even before we got to the playoff, there was drama.
DeChambeau is often bagged for his slow play and long deliberations over shots. At one stage, on the 14th, Cantlay had enough of his fellow American mulling his next shot so began to walk towards the green.
His movement caught the corner of DeChambeau’s eye and prompted an irritated response:
“stop walkin’ patrick” – bryson not playin’ rn. pic.twitter.com/9oz7x0dAli
— Matthew Wiley (@wiley77) August 29, 2021
Whomever that exchange motivated more we may never know, but Cantlay did card a birdie on that hole while DeChambeau got a par. Cantlay then bogeyed 17 only to force a playoff with a birdie on the final hole.
The playoffs were must-see-TV and both men left it all out on the Caves Valley course. In the end, it was Cantlay closing out with two consecutive birdies that won the day, and secured his Ryder Cup spot on Team USA.
Pictures of the pair shaking hands, after the contest, show there was no love lost:
As for that exchange on the 14th fairway, when Bryson DeChambeau scolded him, Cantlay commented:
“He just wanted me to stop walking. We had just been told by the rules officials to kind of speed up, and I’m not always the fastest walker, so I was trying to get ahead and do my part. No big deal; that stuff kind of happens every once in a while out here.”
The newly crowned champion was asked what DeChambeau had said to him during their brief post-round exchange.
After learning DeChambeau had not come into the media zone to share his thoughts with the press, Cantlay said:
“He hasn’t been talking to you guys for a while.
“I think he just said, ‘Congrats, nice playing’, and I said the same.
“He played great all week. We traded blows pretty much all day. He really did put on an exhibition with the driver.”
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