Former amateur no. 1, Patrick Cantlay, was born on March 17, 1992; he held the top amateur ranking for 55 weeks, of which 54 were consecutive. He went to UCLA and won the Haskins Award, Jack Nicklaus Award, and Mark H. McCormack Medal in 2011, followed by the Ben Hogan Award in 2012.
He turned professional in mid-2012, and his first professional event was the Travelers Championship, where he missed the cut. He individually played on the Web.com Tour, finally winning his first professional win at the 2013 Columbia Championship. That same year, he tied for 11th place at the Web.com Tour Finals, earning his PGA Tour card for 2014.
Unfortunately, in late 2014, he hurt his L5 vertebrae, due to which, he wasn't able to play golf for two seasons. He recovered in 2017 and won his first PGA Tour at the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in a playoff, defeating Alex Cejka and Kim Meen-whee.
The eighth PGA Tour win and ninth overall was at the 2022 BMW Championship, where he won over Scott Stallings for a score of 270, under 14, by a single shot. His most recent near-win was the 2023 FedEx St. Jude Championship, where he lost to Locas Glover in a playoff by a par on the first extra hole.
As of March 2024, Cantaly participated in seven events, making the cut in all and finished tied for fourth place at the Genesis Invitational with a score of 271, under 13.
What happened to Patrick Cantlay’s back?
Patrick Cantlay injured his L5 vertebrae in 2014.
Before his second round at the 2014 Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial (now Charles Schwab Challenge), he warmed up on the range and said, "It felt like somebody stuck a knife in my back." He played seven holes and then withdrew, hoping the pain would go away. It was discovered a few weeks later that he had an L5 vertebral stress fracture.
For three months, Cantlay shut it down, and his standing at the top of the Web.com Tour money list fell. He had no choice but to make a comeback in the fall to earn his card, and he managed to finish second in the first season-ending playoff event despite missing two straight cuts. He was out of the game for seven months.
After that lengthy hiatus, his back continued to be problematic. In six starts in 2014, he missed three cuts and never placed higher than 23rd. Since then, he has only participated in one competitive match—a sectional qualifying round for the Chambers Bay Open.
Cantlay believed he had finally turned the corner by January 2016. He got ready to play in the California desert at the PGA Tour's CareerBuilder Challenge, but a week prior to the tournament, he experienced severe back discomfort and shooting pains down his legs.
He turned down the sponsor exemption since the week of the event he had a packed pro-am schedule. Even worse, he was told to wait at least ten more months, away from golf.
FAQ's On Patrick Cantlay break his back
A. Patrick Cantlay injured his L5 vertebrae in 2014, experiencing severe back pain during warm-up at the Crowne Plaza Invitational at Colonial.
A. Cantlay was out of the game for seven months, initially, after his back injury, which got extended by ten more months, and he didn't play for two seasons.
A. There's no mention of surgery in Cantlay's case; however, he experienced continued back problems even after the initial injury.
A. Yes, Patrick Cantlay recovered from his back injury in 2017, which was after two seasons of the original injury.
A. Patrick Cantlay has nine professional wins, eight on the PGA Tour and one on the Web.com Tour.
