By Christopher Webber

GolfWRX Contributor

Most golf fans spent their Sunday afternoon watching some unfortunate history unfold for the U.S. Ryder Cup Team at Medinah. I put my faith in the U.S. team and my DVR on record and headed off to watch what turned out to be a riveting final round of the  in Charlotte, N.C.

While the superstar-packed U.S. Ryder Cup team was squandering a 4-point lead in Chicago, some of the best young talent that haven’t earned a place on golf’s biggest stage were locked up in a heavyweight bout in the southeast. The marquee pairing of the day included Russell Henley, a former Georgia Bulldog whose most recent accolades include winning the 2011 Stadion Classic on the Web.com Tour, as well as receiving the 2010 Haskins award for most outstanding player in college golf.

Playing alongside Henley was Patrick Cantlay, who you may know from the blistering 10-under-par 60 he fired at the Travelers Championship in 2011 when he was a 19-year-old amateur. Others may know him from his short, but stellar career at UCLA that included four wins, including the Mickleson Award for top freshmen, as well as the same Haskins Award that Henley earned just a year prior.

Cantlay started the day at 15-under, five shots off the 54-hole pace set by Canadian Brad Fritsch and Henley. Morgan Hoffman, once a decorated amateur at Oklahoma St., was also close by at 15-under.

The play certainly lived up to the expectation — fans expected a great finish with those names perched atop the leaderboard.  The drama started to heat up on the 16^th hole, a sharp dogleg left par 4 with a relatively small landing area guarded by a large fairway bunker. Going into the hole, Cantlay and Henley were tied at 23-under.

Henley, who had the honor, took an iron off the tee, came off the shot slightly and flared it into the right rough. After a bad bounce he ended up with a buried lie in some of the deepest secondary rough, the swing showing the first signs that he may have been feeling the Sunday afternoon pressure that comes along with holding the lead on the back nine.

Cantlay, who was next to play, smoked a fairway wood into the far right side of the fairway, giving him a great angle into the back-left hole location. This shot was indicative of Cantlay’s ball striking throughout the day.

Henley was first to play from the fairway, and hit a brilliant long iron shot from a horrible lie that ended up on the front-right portion of the green, about 40 feet from the hole, which was cut on the back tier and most elevated portion of the treacherous Jack Nicklaus-designed green.

Cantlay had about 140 yards left, and played a beautiful shot right at the flagstick that ended up just short of the tier 15 feet from the hole. Both players went on to two putt for par, with Henley almost holing his bomb from the front of the green.

On No. 17, a 520-yard par 5, both players were around the green in two shots. Henley played his pitch first to six feet from the front right of the green. Cantlay who had just hit it long of the green, had a seemingly easier chip shot than Henley, but failed to get it inside 10 feet. Cantlay hit his putt solid, but suffered a vicious lip out and went on to tap in for par. This was Henley’s chance to regain the solo lead, as Hoffman was tied with him in the clubhouse at 23-under. Henley did just that, burying his birdie putt dead center.

On No. 18, things got more difficult for Henley. He hit his tee shot in the left fairway bunker, leaving him a difficult second shot into a long par 4 guarded by water down the entire right side of the hole. Cantlay hit a solid tee shot into the right center of the fairway. Again, Henley was to play first, and made a similar swing to the one on the 16^th tee, which never had a chance.  His ball went immediately right and flew into the water, forcing him to drop and then play an 80-yard wedge over the water again.

Cantlay played a safe second shot 30 feet to the left of the back-right hole location after seeing Henley’s misfortune. Henley hit a great recovery shot after his drop, landing it pin high and spinning it back to 10 feet. He put himself in position to tie Hoffman and Cantley for the lead, that is, as long as Cantlay didn’t make his birdie putt to win outright. Cantlay missed his putt, giving Henley the opportunity he needed. He hit a perfect putt that was online the entire way followed by an emphatic right-cross fist pump. Cantlay followed with a par to make the playoff official.

Cantlay found the same bunker Henley was in on No. 18 during the playoff, forcing a safe lay up and a bogey, and Hoffman found the water with his second from the fairway. All Henley had to do was make a routine par for the win.

Although many Americans are still devastated from the performance they saw from their boys this weekend at Medinah, the future of American golf is certainly not looking grim. These three players, all under the age of 24, have very promising futures on the PGA Tour, possibly as soon as next year. It is difficult to predict who will make the U.S Team when the Ryder Cup shifts to Gleneagles in Scotland 2014, but Americans shouldn’t be surprised if they see a name like Cantlay or Henley rounding out their roster.

Rory McIlroy has emerged as the premier young international talent in the game; the U.S. is still waiting on its young players coming out of our ultra competitive collegiate golf system to live up to there potential and follow the path Tiger Woods blazed for young players both internationally and on the PGA Tour. I was thoroughly impressed with the level of play I saw on the Web.com Tour, and can certainly see why the PGA Tour has shifted its qualifying to be based more on performance at this level.  The development of players on the Web.com Tour will certainly translate to longer and less turbulent careers for players on the PGA Tour, and Americans can only hope that will translate into success at the Ryder Cup that the nation is yearning for.

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