University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Patrick Cantlay Turns Professional
June 19, 2012
UCLA's Patrick Cantlay announced today at the Traveler's Championship that he would turn professional at this week's PGA Tour event.
A two-time All-American, Cantlay had been the world's No.1 ranked amateur golfer since last summer when he made the cut in five professional events and advanced to the finals of the U.S. Amateur Championship.
"It has been a great two years having Patrick as part of the UCLA golf team," said Head Coach Derek Freeman. "He has represented our golf program in the highest manner and I feel privileged to have coached him during his time here. To be part of the maturing and growth process that Patrick has experienced has been extremely rewarding. His game has continued to improve during his time at UCLA and is now at an impressively professional level.
"Patrick's amateur achievements speak volumes to how successful our golf program is at UCLA," Freeman continued. "and I hope that we have many other players in our program achieve the same level of success. We are excited for Patrick and are looking forward to having another Bruin on the PGA Tour."
Cantlay, 20, leaves UCLA with impressive numbers. He played 65 collegiate rounds in 35-under par, something no UCLA golfer has ever accomplished. His career scoring average of 70.7 and his percentage of rounds under par (53.8) are also UCLA records. He owns two of the top four single season scoring marks in UCLA history: 70.4 in 2011 (1st) and 71.1 in 2012 (4th). In 2011, he won the GolfStat Cup with an adjusted stroke average of 70.49.
Playing in the majors, Cantlay was the low amateur in the 2011 U.S. Open and won the Silver Cup as the low amateur in the 2012 Masters Tournament. Last June in the second round of the Traveler's Championship, he fired a 60 (-10), the lowest round by an amateur in a PGA Tour event.
Last month, he became the first UCLA golfer to win the coveted Hogan Award, given to the nation's best collegiate golfer at all levels. In 2011, in addition to consensus All-America honors, he earned the Jack Nicklaus Award, the Phil Mickelson Award and GolfWeek's Player of the Year. He was also selected the 2011 Pac-10 Golfer of the Year and Freshman of the Year, in addition to earning First-Team All-Pac-10 honors.
Cantlay has also excelled academically. In May he became the first UCLA golfer to earn CoSIDA Academic All-America honors, landing a spot on the second team. With a 3.30 cumulative grade point average in History, he has earned a spot on the Director's Honor Roll (3.0 gpa/quarter) for five consecutive quarters.