THE MODERATOR: We would like to welcome Patrick Cantlay to the interview room here at the 2023 Memorial Tournament Presented By Workday. You've been here a number of times. Two-time winner in 2019 and 2021. You must have pretty good vibes when you come back to this tournament.
PATRICK CANTLAY: Yeah, definitely it's a course I enjoy. I played well here, so it's always nice to come back to a place that you've had success. Course looks like it's going to be in really good shape. It should be a hard test. No rain this week which usually we do get some rain this week. So the course should play firm and fast, it should be a great challenge.
THE MODERATOR: You're an eight-time winner, I got it right this time, looking for the first victory this season though. But you've had a heck of a consistent season. What do you feel like you need to do to maybe get over that line to win, but what has also been the reason for that consistency?
PATRICK CANTLAY: Yeah, I mean, I think I've done a lot of good in my golf game this year. A lot of parts of my game feel really solid. Just need to have a week where it all kind of matches up and have an above average week in a couple different categories. That's usually what it takes to win. And sometimes wins can come in bunches. So hopefully that's the case.
THE MODERATOR: Just, most of the guys are saying that the course is pretty firm out there and it's probably going to get firmer given doesn't look like there's any rain in the forecast. And typically we good a bit of rain here and it usually gets soft. How will that make this golf course different for you this week?
PATRICK CANTLAY: Just a premium on playing from the fairway and probably will have to be a little more conservative coming into some of the greens. A lot of times there's some hole locations you can get when it's soft and you can spin the golf ball back and feed it to the hole locations. But this week I imagine it's going to be a lot of taking your medicine and trying to make some putts from the middle of the greens.
THE MODERATOR: Okay. We'll take some questions.
Q. You say you like this course. We hear that all the time. Different guys talking about courses. Is it sort of a chicken/egg thing in terms of you play well here so you like the course or you like the course so you play well here? Can you talk that through in terms of this place specifically what it is.
PATRICK CANTLAY: Yeah, I don't think so at all. There's golf courses I don't like that I played really well on and there's golf courses I like that I haven't played that well. This is a golf course that it's always in really good shape and it demands you to hit the ball in the fairway off the tee and it gives you some scoring opportunities with the par-5s. So it's just a golf course that I've liked since I came on property the first time a number of years ago and just happened to have also played really well around here.
Q. We're in kind of the meaty part of the season here, it's been a bunch of designated events, we're through two majors, still two more to go. I know this is kind of a pilot year for this schedule, how do you feel like it's going cadence-wise?
PATRICK CANTLAY: It seems like it's probably been a little busier, which is to be expected. But in a weird way the summer is going to like calm down a little bit, especially right around that British Open, both before and after. So I feel like there's a lot of golf, has been a lot of golf this spring and there will be another, a stretch like the next month will be a lot of golf, but then a little calm before the playoffs and then a race to the finish.
Q. Have you played today?
PATRICK CANTLAY: I played the front nine.
Q. Didn't see the back nine?
PATRICK CANTLAY: Yeah, I, not yet this week.
Q. Apparently you're going to love 16. But to that point, with the PGA just a week and a half ago, does it feel like you got one major on top of the other?
PATRICK CANTLAY: I wouldn't -- I wouldn't say that. I feel like -- you mean like this week being a major?
Q. No, just, well this is a big tournament, but just the fact that we just got done with a major and then we got another one staring us right in the face.
PATRICK CANTLAY: Oh. I feel like that's just kind of how it's been the last couple years. It feels like there's been PLAYERS and then a major every month this time of year. So yeah, I mean, they're definitely closer than they have been in the past, but that's just how it is. I don't think it's that big of a deal.
Q. Are you doing the Scottish?
PATRICK CANTLAY: Maybe. Not positive yet.
Q. Wondering how the chemistry has been developing with Joey on the bag and a week like this where you both had so much success at a place like this, I'm wondering what he can bring.
PATRICK CANTLAY: Yeah, it's been good so far. Obviously he's a pro and has seen all the places before. Not like I have a rookie guy out or anything. He's caddied for a number of great players. So that's been good. Yeah, I'm sure he's had a bunch of good weeks around here and so have I. So it should be a good week.
Q. Anything you're feeling different out on the course, is there a different vibe between you two or just kind of more of the same?
PATRICK CANTLAY: No, just the same. It will take a little time for us both to get into full-on routines and feel totally comfortable. We've only had a couple tournaments this year together, so I'm sure that will improve with time.
Q. Jon Rahm was in here earlier talking about the whole slow play issue. He says he thinks it's over blown. I'm just curious if you agree with that. And he also commented on range finders that he thought those could be helpful when you get off line. What are your thoughts on that?
PATRICK CANTLAY: Yeah, range finders could help you get a number if you're really far off line. In general I feel like the caddies do a pretty darn good job of being able to get the numbers from just about anywhere.
Q. Is it, is slow play an issue out here or not really?
PATRICK CANTLAY: I mean, seems like everyone seems to think it is lately. Although like I've said since I started getting asked about it, times on TOUR have been basically the same, round times have been the same on TOUR for the last decade or more. So if they keep making the golf courses longer and they keep making the greens really fast and firm, it's going to take longer to play.
Q. Two things, and I apologize if you've answered the first one in the last couple months. But do you have a position on the cut for elevated events going forward next year? Yes or no, what do you think either way?
PATRICK CANTLAY: Yeah, I think there's, with it being a limited field I don't think it makes sense to have a cut. I think there's real power in knowing that the best players are going to be there all four days no matter what.
Q. The second thing, U.S. Open. What's your history at LACC in terms of being invited? You do know people there, I think, do you?
PATRICK CANTLAY: Yeah, in college we played a number of times at L.A. and I probably played it a few dozen times. It's a golf course I've played a lot. I saw that -- I played it in December and saw that the USGA's going to set it up quite different than how it plays week-to-week for the members. They have done a lot of work to it since it opened, because it opened right basically when I was like a freshman in college. So they have added a number of tees and changed, tweaked a few things out there since it opened. So yeah, I mean, I've heard some guys say that they think it's going to play really easy. I don't think it will.
Q. Did you, some of these changes in USGA fingerprints on this, are these, in your opinion, good things or did they screw it up?
PATRICK CANTLAY: Well, I'll wait until I see the course tournament week before I make a determination.
Q. Why do you think it's not going to play too easy?
PATRICK CANTLAY: I mean, usually that time of year there's hardly any rain so they can get it as firm as they'd like. With some of the new tee boxes, if they want to play all the back tee boxes, I mean, it can play like a monster. I think the 16th hole can play like 540. 17 and 18 are both over 500 yards. They're all par-4s. They can have a couple par-3s play at 290 if they want. So I think -- there's only two par-5s. So it can play, there's just not a ton of scoring opportunities. With one drivable hole and two par-5s, I don't think it will play, I think it will play close to par.
Q. As someone who likely could be on the Ryder Cup team how do you feel about the potential of LIV players being chosen?
PATRICK CANTLAY: I just want the best 12 Americans on the team. I don't think the U.S. has won a Ryder Cup over there since '93. So I'm looking to change that.
Q. You've won twice here, I don't know how well you know Jack Nicklaus, but what you do know, off the course, how would you describe him, the guy you know?
PATRICK CANTLAY: He's a very kind man. He is always open to sharing advice if you ask him. He's always been very approachable. He's been great to me over the years. I met him for the first time when I won the Jack Nicklaus Award in 2011, I believe. He was super kind to me then and is still that same way when I saw him yesterday.
Q. Brooks Koepka who won the last major. I think he's won five majors and like nine tournaments total. And he's said that he thinks that majors are kind of the only way that he's going to be remembered and that's what he focuses on. You've had kind of the opposite where you won eight times but you haven't won a major yet. How do you feel when you hear someone say that majors are the gold standard and majors are what matter?
PATRICK CANTLAY: Fortunately, my career's not over yet.
Q. You mentioned winning the Jack Nicklaus Award. I'm curious for you as a player at the collegiate level what did that mean to you?
PATRICK CANTLAY: Yeah, it was obviously a tremendous honor and it was very cool to come here. I had never been on-site before, obviously. And I had a U.S. Open qualifier around the corner. So coming here to accept the award was still really, you know, like shock and awe because I hadn't played in a TOUR event yet and I was here and got a feel for it and then being able to win the award, it meant a lot.
Q. Wanted to go back to the U.S. Open just for a second. Because we've been at Riv for the L.A. Open forever. But the idea of a major championship in what effectively is Beverly Hills. Does that seem weird to you and how do you think the week's going to go, probably no different for you, but just overall?
PATRICK CANTLAY: I don't think it's weird. Definitely when you're on property you get, you don't feel like you're in Beverly Hills. You have to kind of look up -- the property's so big that you almost have to look up to see the buildings to remind yourself that you're in Beverly Hills. It feels, it doesn't feel anything like being in Beverly Hills when you're on the golf course. So I think it could be a great site for a U.S. Open. But there may be some traffic.
Q. Do you spend much time in Beverly Hills?
PATRICK CANTLAY: I don't. Just, you know, Westwood was close to there and I spent a couple years at UCLA, which is right next door.
Q. Did you ever at the times playing, whether in school or not, get caught using your cell phone where you shouldn't?
PATRICK CANTLAY: No, I was never caught.
Q. Going back off about the majors. What would you say is your level of frustration with your performance in them to date?
PATRICK CANTLAY: I wouldn't say frustration, I just need to keep getting enough bites at the apple and I imagine that I'll win my fair share.
Q. Just for this season, obviously a lot of good results. Been up there a lot. No wins though. So how do you view it? Are you pleased with your game or and just a win's going to happen or do you get down or maybe frustrated because you haven't been able to get over the line?
PATRICK CANTLAY: No, I think my game's in a really solid spot. This game sometimes the wins come in bunches. I've had years like that where I haven't had -- you know, the year where I won four times, I hadn't won in the calendar year until this week. And then I won three times that summer. So if I just keep putting myself in the right spot and keep working hard on my game the wins should come.
Q. When it comes to not winning, which is obviously a lot for a golfer, how long does it take you, as even keel that you take the game, how long does it take you to digest and move on? Does it matter if it was a solid week of, say 5th, or you lost in a playoff-type thing?
PATRICK CANTLAY: For me it's frustrating any time you show up to a week and don't win. Because that's obviously the goal and that's what you're prepping and preparing for. And I think after just a little bit of reflection, if you have a close call and you played really well during a week you can at least realize that your game's in a good spot and take that momentum into an upcoming week.
Q. What was your hardest loss?
PATRICK CANTLAY: Ever?
Q. Yeah.
PATRICK CANTLAY: Probably the U.S. Amateur in 2011.
Q. (No Microphone.)
PATRICK CANTLAY: Um-hum.
Q. Jack brought this up as well. Do you find yourself learning, whatever that means, more from a loss or from a win?
PATRICK CANTLAY: It depends on the loss or win. I mean, I think you can get a lot out of winning and you can get a lot out of some close calls. Depends on your perspective.
THE MODERATOR: All right. Thanks, Patrick. Appreciate your time. Good luck this week.
PATRICK CANTLAY: All right.
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