Patrick Cantlay, a Southern California native, in familiar spot on leaderboard at The American Express

Patrick Cantlay is a Southern California player who played his college golf at UCLA. So perhaps that's the reason he seems to have figured out The American Express PGA Tour event in the Coachella Valley.

"I like playing California golf and so I played a lot of golf over the years here in the desert," Cantlay said. "Golf courses are usually in good shape, especially La Quinta Country Club."

Cantlay is working on a streak of being in contention in The American Express for 14 consecutive rounds following a 6-under 66 on Friday. Cantlay moved inside the top 10 on the leaderboard, which puts him in position for not only potentially his first win in The American Express, but his third consecutive top-10 finish.

Cantlay was second in the 2021 tournament behind Si Woo Kim, in part because Cantlay shot a tournament course record 61 in the final round at the Pete Dye Stadium Course. In 2022, Cantlay was ninth, but opened with a 62 at La Quinta Country Club.

"Obviously, it's target golf this week. Starting off the year with great weather like this and not a lot of wind on a golf course that's for the most part target golf is a good way to start your year," Cantlay said. "I've enjoyed coming here the last few years, and I'm just happy to be here starting the year on the West Coast."

Cantlay said he didn't play much if any junior golf in the Coachella Valley, but he remembers playing important rounds at PGA West in La Quinta, where The American Express is played.

"I played Q-School here I think in maybe 2012," he said. "That might have been the first time I played these couple golf courses here."

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Oddly, Cantlay's run of 10 competitive rounds includes a round of 72 in 2021 and a round of 71 in 2022, the kind of rounds that generally kill a player's chances in the desert. But he also has the two rounds of 61 and 62 to make up for the over-70 rounds.

Game respects game

Who better to appreciate the skill and focus of professional golfers than other professional athletes?

About 8 to 10 members of the Coachella Valley Firebirds, the new American Hockey League team that calls the desert home, attended Thursday's opening round of the American Express, heading to La Quinta Country Club to see the biggest names.

"This is my first PGA Tour event and it's pretty unreal to see how good these guys are up close," said Firebirds center Ian McKinnon. "I'm a big Rickie Fowler fan, so I followed him for a while. It's awesome out here. I had a great day."

The swarm of Firebirds included Joey Daccord, Jesper Froden and Cameron Hughes to name a few.

"For me it was fun to see how composed they are," Hughes said. "Hockey, obviously, is a hectic and fast-paced sport. But the guys just are calm and then they have like five seconds where they have to be perfect. It's pretty amazing what they can do."

The Firebirds (25-6-3-1) lead the Pacific Division and are tied for the best record in the entire AHL. They return to the ice Saturday on the road against the Ontario Reign.

Hometown player?

Like many LPGA players from the 1970s, 1980s and into the 1990s, Laura Baugh had connections to the desert with the old Dinah Shore LPGA major championship and had a home in the Coachella Valley. But another golfer, Eric Cole of the PGA Tour, has a strong connection with the desert. That's because Cole, a PGA Tour rookie at 34, is Baugh's son.

"My mom is actually from out here a bit and I was born out here," said Cole, who was born in Palm Springs. "So there is a sense of familiarity with it. I had a good feeling about it."

Cole opened The American Express with a 65 at La Quinta Country Club on Thursday. His mother was following Cole at La Quinta in the first round.

While he has never played in the desert's PGA Tour event before, he said he came to the desert to play the courses before heading to the Sony Open in Hawaii last week. Cole made the PGA Tour through the Korn Ferry Tour finals after posting five top-10 finishes on that tour last year.

Ridings' crazy round

With all the talk of eagles and Davis Thompson in The American Express this week, it's a good time to remember one of the strangest rounds in tournament history. That came in 2005 at Tamarisk Country Club, when journeyman Tag Ridings did something no one on tour has done before or after.

Ridings had two eagles on the back nine at Tamarisk Country Club but added a double eagle on the back nine as well. That was 7 under for three holes. The remarkable part is that Riding only managed to shoot a 66 on the day, meaning he played the other 15 holes at Tamarisk in 1 over.

Across the street

Xander Schauffele was looking to get a little practice time in on the driving range at PGA West after shooting a 68 on the Nicklaus Course at PGA West on Friday. But he couldn't go to the range because preparations were under way for the Gwen Stefani concert after the round. So Schauffele and his caddie packed up and moved across the street to the driving range at the Palmer Course at PGA West.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: American Express: Patrick Cantlay finds himself in familiar spot on leaderboard