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Patrick Cantlay's somber pace of play at golf tournaments is beginning to turn heads. The golfer was accused of playing too slow at the Masters by Brooks Koepka and then reportedly annoyed Matt Fitzpatrick and Jordan Spieth at the RBC Heritage last weekend.
Cantlay is known for his slow play and has admittedly been pretty slow recently. He even said the pace of play seemed slow for everyone at the Masters. However, with growing frustration, he's had to hit back at critics. Now, someone else is coming to his defense.
Byeong Hun An, a PGA Tour player himself, came to Cantlay's defense online:
"It’s not fair for Cantlay to take all the blame for slow play because there are many slow guys who is just not on TV. It’s hard to tell them to hurry up if they are over the ball and not firing the trigger but I don’t get how it takes more than 45 secs to choose what club to hit."
For Hun An, the issue isn't all to be placed on Cantlay's shoulders. The pace of play is an issue in golf, and the world number four golfer is certainly among the biggest offenders. However, it's far bigger than one golfer and the blame and frustration should be spread around.
Cantlay is becoming the front man for pacing issues in golf and while it is true that his style of play impacts others, playing slow does help some players do better.
With things coming to a head, a rule change regarding pace of play may be introduced. Baseball just did it with a pitch clock, and the PGA Tour could follow suit with some sort of official timer in the future.
Patrick Cantlay was called out at the Masters and RBC Heritage
Patrick Cantlay's pace of play is all the news in the world of golf, and for good reason. He's been called out at the Masters and the RBC Heritage, so other players are beginning to grow tired of the act.
Per Golf Channel, LPGA Tour legend Dottie Pepper said that the leaders of the RBC Heritage had grown frustrated with the slow pace of play.
"Both Fitzpatrick and Spieth were pretty upset at the 14th about the time it took to make a decision to play the shot, but it's part of being a professional — do what you can to get back in the moment."
In this situation, Cantlay had to decide whether or not he wanted to play a tough shot that he missed prior or take the drop and do it again.
After about five minutes of deliberating with his caddie, he decided to take the shot. It worked out well for him as he nailed it and bogeyed on the next shot, but at what cost?
At the Masters, Brooks Koepka said of Cantlay's group:
“The group in front of us was brutally slow. Jon went to the bathroom like seven times during the round, and we were still waiting.”
Will Patrick Cantlay speed up his game or continue to upset other competitors?
