Polar opposites Bryson DeChambeau and Patrick Cantlay face Sunday showdown at BMW

OWINGS MILLS, Md. – Crazy against calm. Science against art. Brawn against finesse.

However you slice it, an intriguing Sunday showdown between Bryson DeChambeau and Patrick Cantlay awaits at the BMW Championship after they sit locked at the top, three ahead of the nearest challenger, at Caves Valley Golf Club.

While a handful of other contenders like Sungjae Im (three back), Abraham Ancer, Sergio Garcia, Sam Burns and two-time FedExCup champion Rory McIlroy (all four back) will hold hopes of victory, the two Californians are certainly in the catbird seat.

And yet they couldn’t be more opposed in how they do business.

DeChambeau is a tinkerer. A scientist testing new equipment and new philosophies almost every day. He will close down the range in darkness until he gets things just so. He also charts stats and weather conditions and ultimately plays the bash and barge game of distance.

Cantlay is a stayer. Change is his enemy. Routines are his solace. Once something works, he sticks with it, perhaps even for years. It’s an if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, kind of mentality. He relies more on feel when it comes to his game.

“I don't like to change too much. I feel like when you do implement a change, you should give it some time to see whether it works or not, and so I might spend a little bit more time working on a different part of my game,” Cantlay says.

“There might be one thing that I'm working on and I might work on it for months and months and months, trying to build a weakness into a strength. But for the most part I try and stick to my game plan and my process.”

DeChambeau is wild, wacky and brings constant excitement. Recently we’ve learned he will enter the world long drive competition. Unsurprisingly his Saturday 67 was an enigma wrapped in a riddle.

It included a bad break off a sprinkler head; an incredible birdie-eagle-eagle run; two water balls when he was seemingly unbeatable and bounce back birdies when it appeared he was unraveling.

“It was definitely colorful. Thought I played pretty well the front nine, had a mis-hit drive on seven, felt weird; from then on out wasn't driving it very well. That's what I'm going to go do, and work on that for tomorrow,” DeChambeau said before spending another lengthy session on the range.

The night before he worked on putting after missing a six-foot putt that would have given him a historic 59.

“Putter is great right now. That's something I worked on last night and I figured something out. Keeping my hips a little more still has helped out, and I'm seeing the lines a little bit better,” he explained.

“It's taken me a little bit to acclimate for some reason, but I'm now ready to go with the putting, and hopefully I can get it done tomorrow.”

While DeChambeau is a wild ride, Cantlay is – with all due respect – perhaps as vanilla as they come on the TOUR. Not that there’s anything wrong with vanilla. While birdies and eagles rained down across the course Cantlay stayed as steady as always.

He was unphased by what was going on anywhere around him. He didn’t blink when DeChambeau went five-under in three holes to surge ahead by three. He was impervious to the roars that echoed throughout the property and just locked into his own game.

He had started the third round in style, three under through the first three holes with an eagle and birdie of his own. But you wouldn’t know it. There wasn’t a fist pump to be seen.

Sitting four behind through 12 holes and with two par-5s to come Cantlay might have been forgiven for thinking it might not be his day. He never thinks that way.

“It’s not difficult. If staying patient wasn't going to help -- there's nothing I can do at that point. I'm just trying to stick to my game plan. I know there's birdies out there, and every day you play, you might play with someone that's on a tear,” Cantlay deadpanned after.

Two holes later he had the lead as DeChambeau went swimming twice. Cantlay’s expressions never changed. Did he even see it happen? How did he feel?

“I feel pretty much the same, just working on my business. I'm just trying to stay in my own little bubble out there,” he added. “I feel like that's the best way I can go about doing my thing and it gives me the best chance to succeed.”

So Sunday awaits. There is a trophy to be had. There are FedExCup positions to gain ahead of the TOUR Championship. There are Ryder Cup spots. Plenty is up for grabs.

What are each expecting?

“Fireworks,” DeChambeau says.

“Same old process,” Cantlay counters.

Of course.