CANTLAY TAKES LEAD, SETS COURSE RECORD

Cromwell, Conn., June 24, 2011 — Amateur Patrick Cantlay stole the spotlight as play resumed at the Travelers Championship Friday. The freshman from UCLA had a record-setting performance by shooting a 60 in the second round to move into first place.

Cantlay’s play etched his name in the Travelers Championship record books. His second round score of 60 is a course record, and it also tied Tommy Bolt (1954) for best 18-hole and second round performance in tournament history. Cantlay, 19, became the first amateur to shoot a 60 in a PGA TOUR event and 24th person overall.

He shot a modest three under par on the first 18 holes, then caught fire in the following round. During that span, Cantlay shot no worse than par, highlighted by an eagle on hole No. 13, his second on that hole of the day. His momentum continued by making three birdies over the last five holes.

“I hit it really good this afternoon,” Cantlay said. “I only hit a couple bad drives, and they didn’t put me in any trouble. And then on the greens I felt really, really comfortable, and I felt like I could roll almost any putt I had in.”

In his first TOUR performance a week ago, Cantlay made a splash on the national scene by finishing tied for 21st at the U.S. Open.

“It just gave me a ton of confidence that no matter where I tee it up, I can compete,” Cantlay said. “I played well last week. I didn’t play great, and I finished well, so it just gave me a lot of confidence going forward.”

Cantlay leads Webb Simpson, Vaughn Taylor, D.J. Trahan, Alexandre Rocha and Andres Romero going into play Saturday.
The last time an amateur won a PGA TOUR event was in 1991, when Phil Mickelson secured the Northern Telecom Open.