ZOZO: Cantlay Holds Off Rahm And Thomas In Key Pre-Masters Tune-Up

Volunteers and security watch Patrick Cantlay finish off ZOZO Championship win

A season review of major winners and this year’s November Masters may look back kindly on Patrick Cantlay’s ZOZO Championship win. Coming in his native southern California at Sherwood Country Club, Cantlay held off Justin Thomas and Jon Rahm, two other very likely Masters favorites in 17 days.

While we normally look to play at Riviera, Bay Hill, Honda and TPC Sawgrass for signs of Masters readiness, 2020 left the PGA Tour with a sense of responsibility to give players the chance for a legitimate tune-up. Sherwood checked all of the boxes as a sensational and proven tournament venue. A nice mix of playing styles were in contention and while the softened green contours, five par-5’s and immaculate conditioning produced incredible scoring, the ZOZO field was adequately separated.

Cantlay heads to Augusta as a 25-1 shot and with a big win to go with strong play there last year. He finished T9 in the 2019 Masters after briefly leading Sunday.

And as Ben Everill notes at PGATour.com, his final round 66 came on a course he had never played until this week despite going to college nearby.

He went to college at UCLA and had a glittering amateur career where he was the world’s best. During those years Tiger Woods hosted his Hero World Challenge at Sherwood Country Club.

But until this week, Cantlay had never played at Sherwood despite being in close proximity his entire life. So winning the ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP for his third PGA TOUR win, but first in his hometown, was just a tad surprising. Even more so as he had to overtake Justin Thomas and Jon Rahm to do so.