“Patty Ice.” A name many would say is perfect for Patrick Cantlay. He is one of the most talked-about players in golf, and not always for the reason he’d like. Or maybe he does not care about them. To many, he’s the guy who never smiles, takes too long over shots, and is unabashedly unapologetic about it. All in all, people claim they know what Patrick Cantlay’s like. But Xander Schauffele, who knows him best, says Cantlay is misunderstood.

In a recent episode of The Foreplay Podcast, Schauffele shed light on what many often misread about Cantlay’s personality. “Pat’s fashion…can rub people off in a weird way at times,” he said. He recounts an incident from the 2019 Presidential Cup in Melbourne, Australia. The pair was up for another match when Cantlay turned to Schauffele and said, “I may not talk to you this afternoon, but I am with you. We’re going to get this done… I’m just going to conserve energy, and I’m going to walk ahead.” They ended up winning that round.

This was the start of what would come to be known as one of the best pairings in golf. It was Fred Couples’s idea to put them together, as Schauffele recalls in the podcast. Their partnership then quickly clicked, as he agreed that it was almost “surgical” rather than too flashy. Both players speak the same language, in terms of shot shapes, trajectories, and strategy, and it was this bond that carried them through many tense matches. The pair also shone in the 2022 Zurich Classic, which gradually resulted in viewing them as “the perfect pair” by a PGA Tour report.

Their record speaks for itself. Across two appearances in the Presidents Cup, they have an overall record of 6-3-0, and across two appearances in the Ryder Cup, their record is 4-4-0. Moreover, this led to a friendship that extends far beyond the course, as Schauffele was Cantlay’s best man in his wedding, the only PGA Tour player who attended. However, their friendship can also be traced back to a memory that Schauffele shares and Cantlay fails to recollect, when they met at a college event. So now it has reached a new high with the chance to team up.

But regardless, the point of all this is that Xander Schauffele is probably the only man on the golf circuit who knows Cantlay well in and out. And his story matters because it cuts against the caricature that’s followed Cantlay for years. The Californian’s demeanour has often been described as stone-faced, even “painfully focused.” Cantlay himself admitted he doesn’t always realize how serious he looks. “I don’t even realize that’s the look on my face,” he once said after a fan heckled him for seeming miserable. “I was in a great mood this morning.”  But there’s a reason behind his demeanor.

For him, stoicism is not an act but a method. “If I thought that getting amped up, getting high, getting low would help, then I would do it. I don’t think it helps me, so I’m not going to do it,” he explained once. It is very similar to how Brooks Koepka approaches his play on the course, or how Tiger Woods has been known to do so for the past decade or so. Cantlay admitted once that his behavior probably emanates from his locked-in attitude during the match. “I try to get as focused as I can and I try to…almost enter like a trance-like feeling.”

And this method has indeed paid off. For instance, the 2021 BMW Championship. His six-hole playoff win over Bryson DeChambeau not only earned him the infamous moniker, “Patty Ice,” but cemented his image as the guy who thrives when the pressure ratchets up. And like it or not, Cantlay has embraced the nickname too, “I like it. I think it’s great. It maybe rings true.”

Still, Cantlay’s controlled approach hasn’t always endeared him to fans or his fellow players. His slow pace, maybe a part of his strategy(?), has sparked criticism from many. The loudest came from Koepka in 2023, where he called Cantlay “brutally slow,” suggesting that players like him should be penalized. Until very recently, Cantlay was called out for his excruciating pace of play during a live broadcast. These are just one of the many instances.

Patrick Cantlay upsets fans, too, with his icy nature

The bigger issue for many fans, though, has been Patrick Cantlay’s perceived coldness in interactions outside the ropes. Stories from the Memorial in 2024 and RBC Heritage in 2025, where he allegedly shushed a 7-year-old kid and brushed off children seeking an autograph, respectively, added fuel to the narrative. His Ryder Cup incident in 2023 is yet another example. Although it didn’t directly involve him (it was more about Rory and Joe LaCava), he did end up on the hot end of Rory McIlroy‘s fury when the latter called him a “d*ck.”

To solve it all out, he was once advised by Jack Nicklaus to just go on the course and let himself loose. In other words, enjoy. “I was in there having lunch after the early morning round on Friday, and he grabbed me aside and said, ‘You need to go out there, have a good time. Look around when you’re out there. Look at all the people having a great time. And then you need to have a great time and realize that that’s why you’re there, and relax and go have fun and go win the golf tournament,'” Cantlay shared.

So Schauffele’s defense doesn’t erase these incidents, but they do offer a different perspective. Cantlay’s reputation may never fully shift, but it’s probably because he’s wired differently. In the upcoming Ryder Cup next week, the duo might be likely paired again, but what’s to watch out is how he conducts himself among the Europeans and the jeering crowd of New York.