A brilliant match between the assassin, Patrick Cantlay, and Xander Shauffele against Tom Kim and Si Woo Kim in the Presidents Cup brought a huge win to the Americans. Cantlay and Shauffele were on fire in the second session of the third day and dramatically won their match. And once more during that match, he proved himself worthy of his “assassin” moniker. But why exactly?

Towards the end of Saturday, only Cantlay and Schauffele’s match was still ongoing. The pair went through all 18 holes against the Kims, and only on the final one was the winner decided. Patrick Cantlay made a smooth birdie putt on the 18 on the darkening course to bring America one more point, and for doing that—making a kill against a blackening sky—Sam Burns, who played with him in the first session, dubbed him an assassin. “I got to play with Patrick a couple matches. I mean, you saw there on 18, the guy’s an absolute assassin.”

Sam Burns has played with Cantlay twice in this tournament and won both times. He is undefeated in this edition of the Presidents Cup. He said that it was because of a pairing like Cantlay that he has been able to achieve the accomplishment!

That very day, Xander Schauffele was asked about Cantlay’s nickname as well.  He described it to be a ‘fitting’ one, especially given the circumstances. He said, “I think it’s pretty fitting, it being all dark and all. I could barely see him out there. Reading the putt with him was pretty entertaining, using some light from the board.” Indeed, the sun was going down fast as the match was ending and everyone on the course had to rush to beat the sun and Patrick Cantlay certainly cut a very determined figure in the dark.

Notably, the assassin is now just another nickname for the PGA Tour pro. He has plenty, and of course he does! After all, there’s no dearth of achievements for him either.

Patrick Cantlay or Patty Ice?

Patrick Cantlay has now been dubbed an assassin for his ability to be so accurate in the dark. But he has been called by other names as well. He was called ‘Patty Ice’ after the 2021 BMW Championship for being so cool under pressure. ‘Patty’ is short for Patrick and Ice because he has ice in his veins. And after he beat DeChambeau in a playoff to grab the crown at that event, there’s arguably not a more fitting nickname.

Cantlay was also called ‘Sheldon’ by people for a long time. The reference is to the ‘Big Bang Theory’ character Sheldon Cooper. According to the golf pro’s swing coach, Jamie Mulligan, the American star earned this nickname for his pro-activeness! “His nickname for a while was ‘Sheldon’ from the ‘Big Bang [Theory]’ because he was answering the questions before they were asked,” he once said. It adds up, of course. Cantlay is extremely knowledgeable about the sport, be it with reading the greens, or picking the right club. How else could he have amassed 8 PGA Tour wins?

The assassin, aka Patty Ice, aka Sheldon, aka Patrick Cantlay, will be playing against Taylor Pendrith in the final day’s Singles match. He’ll tee off at 12:50 pm ET. Maybe it’s a shot at another nickname?