Cantlay needs head for heights tracking third BMW title

The BMW Championship is the only leg of the PGA Tour’s FedExCup playoffs that rotates venues each year. Patrick Cantlay has shown he can bag BMW wins no matter which course is up for its turn.

But the 2024 edition of the tournament presents an entirely different challenge: a 7,434m track at Castle Pines Golf Club in the thin air of Castle Rock, Colorado.

Cantlay, the 2021 and 2022 champion at the BMW, and the rest of the 50-player field will need to prepare for the unusual distances their shots travel at altitude, plus the other trials that come with this course layout.

“It’s a longer walk, I’ll tell you that,” Cantlay said on Tuesday. “There’s going to be some tired caddies at the end of this week with the uphill and the downhill and the 7,434m. The ball is going farther, but we’ve got to walk all that way.”

The course is set to become the longest in PGA Tour history, the result of golfers’ driving distance combined with the unique environmental circumstances in the Rocky Mountains. The BMW has not been played in Colorado since 2014.

Castle Pines is 1,890m  above sea level.

“I think the altitude, with all the help we have with the TrackMans and the devices, it’s pretty easy to see how far it’s going,” Cantlay said. “We learn new golf courses all the time, so I don’t think it’ll be too big of a change or too difficult.”

Cantlay had a memorable playoff win at the 2021 BMW Championship over Bryson DeChambeau. They both torched the course, Caves Valley in Maryland, for a 27-under final score. Cantlay went on to win the 2021 FedExCup and defended his BMW title the next year at Wilmington (Delaware) Country Club.

The world No 9 said he does not know why he has found particular success winning an event that changes scenery each year. He cited his history of playing well in the warm weather of August.

“This tournament in general is played on bentgrass greens, which I tend to putt well, and I've had some events, some BMW events where I’ve putted well, so this week is no different,” Cantlay added.

Cantlay has not won on tour since that 2022 BMW. He enters the week ranked ninth in FedExCup points, guaranteed to make it to the tour’s season finale, the Tour Championship, next week for a chance at a second FedExCup title.

“I feel good about my game,” Cantlay said. “I’d say my results have been going in the right direction the past few months. Had a poor first round last week, but other than that, I played really well the last three days. So carry some of that momentum into this week.”

Field Level Media