Jamie Mulligan Shares What You Can Learn From Patrick Cantlay's PGA Championship Prep

Jamie Mulligan has pretty much been part of Patrick Cantlay’s entire life. Mulligan, a four-decade PGA of America Member and PGA Teacher & Coach of the Year, has been at Virginia Country Club since 2000 and knew Cantlay’s grandfather. Cantlay’s dad was the club champion there, too.

Cantlay is now an eight-time PGA TOUR winner and eyeing on a ninth title this week at the PGA Championship.

A major championship victory has eluded him so far in his career, however, but Mulligan and Cantlay have a solid plan to take on Valhalla Golf Club – and Mulligan has a few tips the next time you are set to tee it up on a course you’ve never seen before.

“Even places (Cantlay) hasn’t seen before, like Valhalla, we’ve ‘seen’ them before and we’ve also talked about how to prepare and see a golf course since he was maybe in his early teens,” Mulligan says. “He’s really good at when to 'hold ‘em' and when to 'fold ‘em.' Where to drive the ball off the tee and what the winds are doing and how the rough will play into it and get a good feel for the golf course.

“He’s got Joe LaCava on the bag who is, in my opinion, the best of the best and great at reading places and understanding. They do a great job of preparing and getting ready by the time they’re getting ready to hit it on Thursday.”

There has been a handful of changes to the turf and conditions at Valhalla since the last PGA Championship, too, so Mulligan believes seeing it “with fresh eyes” is not the worst thing that could happen.

Cantlay, who has had two top-5s and four top-15s so far this season, has had a steady 2024 campaign, according to Mulligan. He started the year with a first-round scoring average around 65 through his first half-dozen events or so, but he leveled off over the following 54 holes.

“We need to have some of those first rounds run all the way through the Championship. Steady across the board and trending,” Mulligan says. “We’re trying to keep him fresh and stay in our system which has been extremely effective. That’s been the key over his career and that’s right where we are.”

And while a major-championship victory is not yet on the resume for Cantlay, Mulligan notes that all tournaments are important and his pupil has a singular goal there – and it’s a mental approach all golfers could take the next time they have a big event in front of them.

“We get a chance to play 20 to 23 times a year, so we treat it like we’re going (to every event) to win and if we don’t, let’s try to have the best output we can,” Mulligan says. “We’ve always had the mentality that fourth is better than fifth, and if you have a chance to win you try to win, for sure. He’s done a nice job of that.”

Every day, whether someone is playing a match with their buddy on Saturday or the Ladies’ Club Championship or a big amateur event they’re wondering how they can compete.

My advice for everybody is do what makes you the most comfortable to play the best golf you can – how to control your adrenaline and get into the right mode for your body to be ready to hit the best shots.

Golf takes a long time when you’re out there and you only hit a shot every three or five minutes. You can do what you want between shots but get comfortable to put the best swing or the best stroke on it you can, and normally that adds up to the best result.