PACIFIC PALISADES, Calif. — Did Patrick Cantlay call it Saturday afternoon?

He led by five shots after Friday’s second round of the Genesis Invitational, the largest 36-hole lead at Los Angeles’ PGA Tour stop since 1983. Saturday, the former Servite High and UCLA golfer played as if his main goal was to stay out of trouble, and while he still led by three shots after his 1-under 70, he’d left the door ajar.

“I’ve had some close calls,” he said after that round. “I had a year not too long ago where it felt like every close call went my way, and lately it hasn’t been like that the last year or so, but looking to change that (Sunday).”

Uh, no.

That door that was left open a crack? Hideki Matsuyama took advantage. The former Masters champion swiped the trophy with a final round 62 fueled by nine birdies, six on the back nine, to tie the tournament record for a final round and come within one shot of the tournament record for any round.

Cantlay was playing on home turf before friendly galleries, including USC football coach Lincoln Riley (and it’s not known if he could bring himself to root for a former Bruin), but in the end Cantlay was reduced to a not-so-innocent bystander.

Playing to stay out of trouble sometimes gets you in trouble. Cantlay had a string of 10 straight pars – the 18th Saturday, following a bogey on 17, and the front nine on Sunday – before things blew up. Cantlay bogeyed 10, 13 and 15, and by then Matsuyama – playing four groups ahead of Cantlay and Xander Schauffele – had turned it into a boat race, finishing three shots ahead of runners-up Will Zalatoris and Luke List.

Cantlay finished four shots back of Matsuyama. He missed an 18-footer for par on 10, had an 11-footer for eagle on 11 and settled for a birdie, parred 12, missed a 19½-footer for par on 13, missed a 15-footer for birdie on 14, hit his first two shots on 15 into bunkers but still had an 8-foot, 9-inch putt for par and missed, and had a 9-footer for birdie rim out on 17.

Life is cruel. The cumulative length of the par putts he missed on the back nine was around 46 feet. And then, on 18, with the big trophy having gotten away, he sank a 50-foot, 7-inch putt for birdie, assuring him of a tie for fourth with his buddy Schauffele.

He declined to speak to media members afterward, which probably shouldn’t have been surprising.

But maybe there’s a pattern here. This was Cantlay’s fifth tournament of the season, and after finishing tied for 12th in The Sentry, the season-opening event at Kapalua, he faded in the late rounds in consecutive weeks at La Quinta and Torrey Pines. At the American Express he started out with rounds of 64, 66 and 67 but finished with a 76. At the Farmers Insurance Open, he shot 65 in the opening round but followed it with rounds of 73, 74 and 75.

Two weeks ago he finished tied for 11th at Pebble Beach. With this week’s tie for fourth, you could make the case he’s trending upward. But he had the lead and failed to close.

Before Matsuyama put on the afterburners on the back nine – that, my friends, is closing – there was a five-way tie for the lead midway through the afternoon, with Zalatoris, List, Cantlay and Schauffele joining the party and seven players within three shots of the lead.

Zalatoris led, briefly, after a birdie on 13. But his week, highlighted by a hole-in-one Friday, turned out to be tougher than anyone could have imagined.

“I didn’t say anything all week, but I – sorry. I lost a family member on Thursday and she was … she was with me all week,” he said, afterward, trying to keep his emotions in check. “You know, (it) was pretty special on Friday to make the hole-in-one after – sorry. Pretty special to make the hole-in-one on Friday after I found outon Thursday. She was with me all week.”

He did not give any details, which is absolutely understandable, but he did say it was unexpected.

“This whole week was for her,” he said. “My family (who is in the Northwest) can’t be here no matter what would have happened, but very proud of how I played. … (It) just shows you life’s short and (to) appreciate the moments, how lucky I am to be out here.”

Zalatoris was sidelined for eight months last year after back surgery. The time off allowed him to go back and get his degree from Wake Forest (in psychology), do some traveling with his wife (they went to Wimbledon) and, eventually, work his way back into golf.

“In my wife’s brilliance when I was sitting in the hospital bed, she asked the doctor, ‘Hey, when’s he going to be able to travel?’ And he said about two to three months,” Zalatoris said. “So we did a bunch of bucket list stuff. When you’re 27, 28 and don’t have kids at home and you’ve got six months off, you know, we did a bunch of fun stuff, so I stayed busy for sure.

“My mind was always on my game, for sure. It’s been a long, weird year. 2023 was a bad movie, but so far things are progressing nicely.”

Zalatoris, a 27-year-old native of San Francisco, has one tour victory, the FedEx St. Jude Championship in 2022. He was asked if his performance this week might be a turning point in his career.

“Every week I’ve been getting better, so I knew I just got to keep doing what I’m doing,” he said. “I’ve got a lot of silver in my house so getting another second place doesn’t really sit that well, but obviously coming back from what I had to go through physically, you know, we’re in the right direction.

“This is really good preparation for the majors coming up. It’s nice to be able to work on these changes when I’m in contention.”

And, he added:

“The beauty of this game is, you know, it’s kind of nice when you get beat by somebody who shoots 62 on Sunday. (A) 62 on Sunday is usually going to win a golf tournament or going to make you a lot of money.”

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