THE MODERATOR: We'd like to welcome Patrick Cantlay into the interview room. He's making his eighth appearance at the BMW Championship, and he is our 2021 and 2022 champion. Welcome back to the BMW. Here we are at Castle Pines. If we can get some thoughts on being here this week.
PATRICK CANTLAY: Yeah, definitely a change from the last venues we've seen the last few years. But it should be interesting. The ball is going to really far this week, and the golf course is in great shape. Looks like we're going to get good weather, so should be good.
Q. Seven out of eight years for you making it to East Lake. You're No. 9 in the FedExCup standings. Talk about the state of your game as we come down to these last two events.
PATRICK CANTLAY: Yeah, I feel good about my game. I'd say my results have been going in the right direction the last 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.
Q. Do you wish more of the playoff events moved around like this one did? Do you like the idea?
PATRICK CANTLAY: Yeah, this tournament has moved. I think most years it changes. We've played it at a bunch of different venues. I think since we've had just the three events, the first one has been in Memphis, so it's been East Lake -- East Lake you can count as a move this year. I think the golf course is going to be quite a bit different.
Q. I would agree.
PATRICK CANTLAY: But I think it's fine how it is.
Q. Obviously there's a lot of elevation here, but does anything about 8,100 yards on the scorecard make you shake your head or think we've sort of reached a new frontier or something?
PATRICK CANTLAY: It's a longer walk, I'll tell you that. There's going to be some tired caddies at the end of this week with the uphill and the downhill and the 8,100 yards. The ball is going farther, but we've got to walk all that way.
Q. You guys play at sea level, you learn what you can and can't do different places. Is it more work than usual trying to figure out what's going to go how far?
PATRICK CANTLAY: Yeah, definitely you have to pay attention to it, and I think the biggest thing is paying attention to trajectory. If you get the ball a little up in the air, it can go quite a bit further. In general, the landing areas aren't bigger even though the dispersion is going to be bigger.
There's just a little more emphasis on distance control and controlling your trajectory to make sure you play the right -- it's roughly 10 percent, so you get it that 10 percent extra.
Q. Max Homa has the official TOUR record at 477 yards for the longest drive. Are drives like that in play this week? I'm thinking at No. 1 specifically.
PATRICK CANTLAY: He must have hit a cart path or something, 477. I'm not sure. I think to hit it past 477, you'd need some extra special help.
Q. Why have you been able to go to the new events, the new places for this event and just pick up and win?
PATRICK CANTLAY: Hmm. I don't know if I know the answer. I have played well in general at this time of year. In general it's been warm. If I could tell you, I'd bottle it up at do it at other times 69 year or on other golf courses.
But 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.
Q. Why do you think that we've seen, I guess, momentum in Playoffs be a thing since its inception, a lot of guys winning twice, et cetera?
PATRICK CANTLAY: Yeah, I think it's three weeks in a row, and even though they're all standalone weeks, with the new format change, the last week feels more like the end of a three-week stretch as opposed to a standalone week.
So the guys that are playing well, I think not only do they get the advantage of starting ahead at East Lake, but they're also playing well. So I think it feeds on itself a little bit.
Q. Do you feel like this week is especially challenging between the altitude and the new course?
PATRICK CANTLAY: I don't think so. 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. We learn new golf courses all the time, so I don't think it'll be too big of a change or too difficult.
Q. I recognize you and Xander are good mates and hang out a bit. Have you had any side action between the two of you on this season, and how far behind are you if that's the case?
PATRICK CANTLAY: We have action at home all the time. He's been getting the better of me as of late. He's played really well this year. It's been fun to watch. We are really good friends, and he's playing extremely good golf. I played with him yesterday, and it's a pleasure to watch out there.
Q. Are you trying to get one up on him over the next two weeks I'm guessing?
PATRICK CANTLAY: Yeah, I try to get one up on him every day.
Q. Do you ever grade yourself, and if you did, what kind of grade would you give yourself and why?
PATRICK CANTLAY: I don't really grade myself. I feel like this year has been average, but there's a couple events left, and a lot of times a golf season can turn around in a week or two. So I've been working really hard and my game is trending in the right direction.
This golf course I think fits my game really well, and with my game being in a good spot, I feel comfortable and confident going into these last two weeks.
Q. What makes it average?
PATRICK CANTLAY: I would say I haven't won, which I think is a standard that a lot of the guys out here hold themselves to. I do, definitely.
I've had maybe not the most consistent year from my perspective. I've had some ups and downs.
But I've had a lot of good weeks, and like I said, the last couple months have been encouraging and I've been playing pretty good, so a week or two can change.
Q. Are you the kind of person that tries not to get too result obsessed?
PATRICK CANTLAY: Try to be. It's not hard to get result obsessed because that's what you're going through the process for, but my process isn't going to change too much. I realize that hard work each and every day and staying committed to the process that my team and I have laid out is the best way to get those results, and hyper focusing on those results isn't going to help.
Q. What does that look like, do you think, to an average fan when someone is just so caught up in outcome? What would they see? Taking on pins they shouldn't? Do you ever fall into that trap?
PATRICK CANTLAY: About taking on pins? I'm sure it looks different for everybody. I think a lot of the best players are not very result oriented or at least in the way that they go about it in the day-to-day. I think being result oriented, it's better to be that way when you have a backward-looking view so you can assess. So if you assess your results at the end of a year, looking back, it can help you game plan to set up a better process going forward.
But I don't think while you're in the middle of it it's necessarily helpful to focus on one week or one round result-wise.
Q. Do you look back at the end of the year?
PATRICK CANTLAY: Definitely. Look back at stats, look back at cadence of the schedule. Yeah, because I think it's important to tweak ever so slightly your process or your game plan with a long-term approach.
Q. I'm just curious, I've heard you say this from time to time, that if something goes wrong it's something I'm going to learn from. How do you learn from it, for example, if you hit one OB to the right on the last hole?
PATRICK CANTLAY: Thanks for that image.
Q. I'm trying to think of something else. It's not like you did it on purpose. Next time you're in that position, surely you're not thinking, don't block this right. How exactly do you learn from a mistake?
PATRICK CANTLAY: Well, I think the more times you're in a high-pressure situation, the better you'll handle it. I think you see that with some of the best players over time. They look more comfortable. They play more what you would call regular, because they're there all the time. It's easier for them to do it because they've experienced it. It's not the first time they've stood on a tee box knowing they need to make a par or birdie or hit the fairway to give themselves a chance to win the tournament.
From that point of view, I think anytime you get in contention, it's really helpful in normalizing being in contention.
Q. How do you grade the Signature Events for the first year?
PATRICK CANTLAY: I feel like they've gone really well. I've talked to a number of the guys, and they feel like the events are some of the best they've played in their time being on the PGA TOUR. I feel like the sponsors have been happy with it. The golf courses have been in great shape.
I think they've gone really well.
Q. And a grade would be? What grade would you give it?
PATRICK CANTLAY: A.
Q. Do you think field sizes need to change?
PATRICK CANTLAY: I think it's something we should always be looking at. But I think you have to give it some time. We made, obviously, some significant changes in the last year or two, so analyzing this year, because it has been a significant change and seeing what the effects are, and I know we're doing that at the PAC and board level.
Q. With only two events left in the Playoffs, do you feel like you have -- like that's the amount of time you have left to get a win, or do you plan to play some fall if you don't get a win?
PATRICK CANTLAY: I'm definitely focused on the next couple weeks. I don't plan on playing too much in the fall, if at all. I'm going to put everything I've got into these next two weeks.
Q. Have you played much in Colorado at all over your career or as a youngster? I know you went to UCLA, so probably not, but obviously it's different playing at altitude, as you've touched on a bit, but you've had an opportunity to walk the course, play the course now. It's kind of a different monster. How do you approach this different animal this week, along with all that comes with the magnitude of this event?
PATRICK CANTLAY: I think I played maybe one tournament in Colorado. I qualified for the U.S. Amateur here when I was, I think, a sophomore or junior in high school. It was a long time ago.
As far as the golf course being long, it doesn't play that long, just because the golf ball goes so much further at the elevation. I don't think we would approach it too much differently than any other week, other than you really do have to pay attention to trajectory and controlling your distance coming into greens because every club is going to go further than what it does normally, which means that the dispersion is further.
The fact that I'll hit my 7-iron this week maybe 20 yards shorter than my 6-iron, it's just that much more important to be dialed in and taking a little off or controlling your trajectory up or down to make sure it goes the proper distance.
Q. And it's longer walking, too, right? Have you noticed that a little bit?
PATRICK CANTLAY: Yeah, fortunately I only played nine holes today, but there are some serious climbs out there.
Q. Did you watch much TV when you were a kid? Golf.
PATRICK CANTLAY: Yeah, I definitely watched golf with my dad.
Q. All the time?
PATRICK CANTLAY: Compared to most other kids, I'm sure.
Q. What did you get out of it? What did it do for you as a 12 year old?
PATRICK CANTLAY: I feel like we watched a lot of Tiger winning tournaments. I can feel like I watched that all the time. I remember one time we watched the Ryder Cup, and my dad told me, I feel like the U.S. is going to lose all their matches today, even though they were up -- I can't remember which one it was. I was maybe 10 or something like that. And I didn't realize that he had it on tape delay, and he already knew that the U.S. got blown out in singles, and I just was watching there in disbelief they lost eight or nine of the singles matches and lost. I didn't feel too happy when he told me he knew beforehand.
Q. Did you have a favorite tournament?
PATRICK CANTLAY: A favorite tournament? I went to Riviera growing up with my dad and my grandfather, so that was always kind of my favorite.
Q. To watch on TV. The Masters is usually everyone's pick, but was there anything else that stood out?
PATRICK CANTLAY: Probably the Masters. It comes across so well on TV, and getting to go back to the same place every year, seeing the players play from all the same areas. It's hard not to pick the Masters.
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