Zurich Classic: Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele make no apologies for being bosom buddies

There will be no apologies given this week at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans on those rare occasions when Patrick Cantlay or Xander Schauffele hits a bad shot.

“We’ve seen the best of the best and the worst of the worst from each other, so there’s no need for apologies or anything like that,” Schauffele said. “We both know we’re trying our hardest.”

Cantlay and Schauffele are set to reprise their roles as a dynamic duo for the U.S. Ryder Cup team at Whistling Straits. Only this time the SoCal natives are reuniting for the only two-man team format during the 47 events that make up the PGA Tour 2021-22 season.

Cantlay, 30, and Schauffele, 28, first bonded when they stayed up for nearly 26 hours drinking coffee and playing gin on the Team USA flight from the Bahamas to Australia for the 2019 Presidents Cup. Neither wanted to accept defeat, although Schauffele concedes that Cantlay is the better card player. They ended up as partners in all four of the team sessions of the international biennial competition, going a respectable 2-2, with a pair of wins in foursomes. Ever since, they’ve been nearly inseparable and regular practice-round partners.

“I don’t think either of us would have gone out of their way to be friends with each other,” Cantlay said, “but then spending that time together, we realized that we really got along with each other. I think he’s incredibly smart, and I think he’s incredibly conscientious. He is someone that probably brings out the best in me. He’s more positive, and he has a way of being more light as opposed to me being serious. Yet he’s very quiet and reserved, so we kind of have that bond, and yet he balances me out a little bit.”

Last year, they finished T-11 in this event at TPC Louisiana in Avondale, La., before going on to greater success individually. Schauffele won the gold medal at the Toyko Summer Olympics while Cantlay claimed the FedEx Cup and was named PGA Tour Player of the Year. Ahead of pairing up to beat the likes of Rory McIlroy and Ian Poulter at the Ryder Cup, they even teamed up to take a vacation together with their significant others.

“Taking the trip to Napa was very natural,” Cantlay said ahead of the Ryder Cup. “It was like, I’d really like to spend time with Xander and Maya. That’s kind of how that came about. … And so before the stretch of the playoffs where I knew I was going to be playing lots of golf tournaments and be on the road for a number of weeks. I thought, Man, I need something to look forward to and asked if he wanted to go to Napa, and he said that sounded great. And we had an unbelievable time.”

With the exception of a missed cut at the Players and a middling finish at the Masters, Cantlay, No. 4 in the world, has been regularly in contention but hasn’t hoisted a trophy yet this season. He lost on the first extra hole on Sunday to Jordan Spieth at the RBC Heritage, his second playoff defeat this year.

“I’ve had some very close calls this season,” he said. “Sometimes it’s just how golf is, but you just keep knocking on the door, and eventually the door will fall down.”

Schauffele’s best result is a T-3 at the Waste Management Phoenix Open in February, but he conceded his game hasn’t been up to his high standard so far this season despite only slipping to No. 12 in the world.

“It’s about time to catch some stride here and go on a nice little run to kind of cap off the season, and no better time to start than here with Pat,” he said.

These bosom buddies likely will be partners again at the Presidents Cup this fall in Charlotte and it couldn’t hurt their chances to have a good showing together this week in the Big Easy.

“It’s rare to share success in golf. If I could do it with someone out here, I would love to do it with Pat,” Schauffele said. “We’re normally playing against each other every week, and as close as we are as friends, we want to beat each other more than anyone else. It’s cool if we can kind of share some success this week.”