AUGUSTA, Ga. — PGA Tour veteran stars Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay have much in common. That includes being the top two players in their early 30s who have never won a major championship.
They are such close friends that they vacation together. Schauffele was the lone PGA Tour player who attended Cantlay’s wedding in Rome after last year’s Ryder Cup matches there, which included both players.
They are both California natives who annually join forces in the PGA Tour’s two-man team Zurich Classic tournament, which they won in 2022. They play practice rounds together when in the same tournament, as was the case this week in the Masters.
“Yeah, Xander and I are great friends and we’ve played a lot of golf together. Between Presidents Cup and Ryder Cup, quite a few team events,” Cantlay said.
Schauffele once joked that “we don’t have friendship bracelets yet.”
The similarities include their PGA Tour accomplishments. Cantlay has $43.9 million in career earnings; Schauffele has $43.5 million. Cantlay has eight PGA wins and Schauffele has seven. They both have signature victories – Cantlay was the PGA Tour’s FedEx Cup champion in 2021 and Schauffele was the Olympic golf champ in 2020 in Tokyo.
Currently, they are both ranked in the top 10 in the world – Schauffele is No. 5 and Cantlay is No. 7 this week.
Even with all their accomplishments, they are the top two veterans without a major championship victory. At age 32, Cantlay is two years older than his friend.
Only two other players in the world ranking top 10 – No. 6 Viktor Hovland and No. 9 Ludvig Aberg – haven’t won a major – and they are both in their early-to-mid 20s. Aberg is 24 and Hovland is 26.
Schauffele and Cantlay are in good form, so the first major for one of them could come this week at Augusta National Golf Club. They handled the windy conditions on Thursday, with Cantlay shooting 1-under 71 and Schauffele 72.
Cantlay had some fireworks at the end of his round – he made an eagle on the par-4 17th hole by holing a wedge shot from 146 yards.
“I was having a pretty mediocre day up until that point,” Cantlay said.
Patrick Cantlay holes out from the fairway on No. 17 to move to one under par. #themasters pic.twitter.com/Cdm5mkj9d9
— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 11, 2024
He parred No. 18 to close out his under-par round.
“I think momentum can be real,” Cantlay said. “Definitely getting it under par for today, I think it’s going to play…
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