AUGUSTA, Ga. — There is the big three atop the golf pyramid as the Masters awaits the start of play — driver-wielding titans Rory McIlroy, Jon Rahm and Scottie Scheffler.
As the world’s fourth-ranked golfer, Patrick Cantlay isn’t quite a third wheel or a faceless grinder on the PGA Tour. But he starts the Masters, set to begin play Thursday morning, as the best of the rest in a sport in which the aforementioned triumvirate have separated themselves from the pack. Cantlay is scheduled for a 10:30 a.m. tee time Thursday with Adam Scott and Kurt Kitayama. He won’t bring a chip on his shoulder to the first tee, at least one he won’t publicly acknowledge.
“Those three have played exceptionally well the last couple years and they have won a lot of big tournaments,” Cantlay said Tuesday at a pre-tournament news conference. “So I think it’s rightfully so and understandable that people refer to them that way.”
