Patrick Cantlay’s ‘dream finish’ carries him to 36-hole lead at windy RBC Heritage

The wind-swept oceanfront views of Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, often provide a backdrop that seems more suitable for a Hollywood dream sequence than a PGA Tour event. During the late portion of his second round at the RBC Heritage on Friday, World No. 6 Patrick Cantlay put that landscape to good use.

Cantlay made birdies on his final four holes, dropping a silky left-to-right 21-foot putt on 18 to post a 67 and take a two-stroke lead after the second round of the event.

After 36 holes, Cantlay sits at 9 under, two strokes ahead of Robert Streb and three ahead of a group that includes Joel Dahmen, Cameron Tringale, Erik van Rooyen, Aaron Wise, and first-round leader Cameron Young.

Cantlay, who has lagged ever-so-slightly in recent weeks after posting top-10 finishes in his first four events of the calendar year, was pleased to build momentum on a blustery day.

“Obviously, that’s a dream finish. I finally rolled in some putts, and that was really nice to see going into the weekend,” he said. “It was a tough day out there, and I figured any round under par or around even par would be a win for today. So finishing how I did puts me in a great spot for the weekend.”

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Cantlay has plenty of work to do as the weather is expected to be an issue throughout the final two days of play. Winds that gusted in the 30-mph range might subside a bit, but the weekend forecast includes thunderstorms.

“I think we’ll get some more weather. It always tends to blow a little bit here,” Cantlay said. “I think just staying with my game plan and continue to leave the golf ball in the right spots, which is paramount around this place, I think is the key.”

While Cantlay had a stretch with four consecutive birdies, Dahmen nearly did the same, posting birdie four times in a five-hole stretch to briefly take the lead.

Dahmen started on the back, but after making the turn made birdies on Nos. 1, 2, 4, and 5 to get a brief edge on the field.

The key to Dahmen’s round was his putter. On Friday, Dahmen holed over 117 feet of putts, or almost double the 65 feet he made in the first round.

He did give one back on the seventh hole but happily finished with a 67 on a day so windy he was forced to forego his signature bucket hat.

“When you get in the trees and the houses, actually you’ll feel completely different on the tee than where your ball’s at,” Dahmen said. “It’s really hard to actually just hit a golf shot when the wind is going one way and you’re standing the tee, and the ball is going to do something completely different up there. So that was really difficult for me.”

For Cantlay, who started strong at the Masters last week but fell back in the pack with a 79 in difficult conditions during the third round, the familiarity and framing at Harbour Town Golf Links is something he hopes to use to his advantage over the tournament’s final half.

Cantlay has a pair of third-place finishes at the event and has carded a number below 70 in eight of his dozen rounds at the tournament.

That could all set up for a dreamy finish.

“I think it frames up the shots you need to hit on each and every hole and you can’t just hit stock shots all day,” Cantlay said. “So I really like working the golf ball, flighting it in. Especially on days like today where you’re getting 20, 30 mile an hour crosswinds, you need to flight the ball down and really leave your ball in a good spot. If you do that around this golf course, you get rewarded.”