Patrick Cantlay was humbled by golf legend Tiger Woods during a memorable visit to his home. Cantlay will play alongside Woods and fellow American Xander Schauffler in the same first round group at the The 152nd Open at Royal Troon on Thursday.
The 32-year-old has had something of an up-and-down season so far, although he did finish in the top five at both the Travelers Championship and the US Open. He also finished T8 at The Open in 2022.
Woods, on the other hand, is one of the greatest golfers of all time, having won no fewer than 15 majors. That probably became more apparant to Cantlay than ever following a visit to the legend's house after the California native had won Player of the Year in 2021.
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He told Golf Magazine: "I went over to Tiger's house, I think to talk Ryder Cup after I had won Player of the Year. And it felt like a big deal to me at the time that I had got a Player of the Year, and they give you this little Jack Nicklaus bronze trophy. So we're walking through Tiger's house and we're in the basement and he's got like, 11 of 'em lined up right next to each other all in the corner of the basement — boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom."
Cantlay then explained that he jested: "Hey, I'm catching up," before Woods gave him a brash eight-word piece of advice, reportedly responding: "You got a lot of work to do." Woods has been named as the PGA Player of the Year eleven times in his career thus far, first receiving the accolade back in 1997 after a breakthrough victory at The Masters.
He has racked up 15 majors overall since making his pro debut, including five Masters, four PGA Championships, three US Opens and three Open Championships. Despite his overall success in the UK, the golfing legend has never tasted victory at Royal Troon, the course he is faced with this week.
With two victories at St Andrews and one at Royal Liverpool, Woods' best finish thus far at Troon came in the form of a T9 finish back in 2004, with a score of -3. Todd Hamilton would famously defeat Ernie Els in that competiton after a tense playoff of the first, second, 17th and 18th holes.
Despite wins at the 2017 Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, the 2021 Memorial Tournament and the 2021 BMW Championship, Cantlay is still searching for his first taste of success on the major scene. His best finish at The Open came in the form of a T8 finish two years ago at St Andrews with a score of -12, alongside Bryson DeChambeau and Jordan Spieth.
Cameron Smith would take victory with a score of -20 in total, one stroke under compared to runner up Cameron Young. Meanwhile, his best major performance outright came at the 2019 PGA Championship - finishing T3 alongside Matt Wallace and Spieth on a score of -3.
