Patrick Cantlay has once again been forced to defend his pace of play on the PGA Tour, insisting he is not the cause of any speed problems despite recent criticism.
The world No. 4 has long been known as one of the slowest, if not slowest, players on Tour, but the problem was highlighted last month when he played in the penultimate group of the Masters on Sunday.
The final group of Jon Rahm and Brooks Koepka took nearly five hours to complete their round, with many long waits behind Cantlay reading putts on the green.
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“The group in front of us was brutally slow,” Koepka said after the round. “Jon went to the bathroom about seven times during the tour and we were still waiting.”
Speaking ahead of this weekend’s Wells Fargo Championship, Cantlay was again drawn to the topic.
And once again he was sure that his pace of play was not a problem and that any problem lay elsewhere.
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“If you really wanted guys to play faster, you would put the tees up and you would put in easier hole locations and the greens would roll to 10 if you really wanted to, and you hoped it would never blow more than 10 miles an hour,” he said.
“When the days are really tough and the greens are really fast and the hole locations are on a lot of slope, it’s going to take longer to play.”
He added: “But as I said before, the rounds on the Tour have been taking about the same amount of time for several years now and I don’t think they’re going to set up the golf course one way or another. ‘another, as I said, to do rounds, you know, goes much faster.
Cantlay also pointed to last week’s Zurich classic where he finished his final run about 24 minutes ahead of schedule.
It’s important to note, however, that this was a team event and Cantlay played his final round alternating shots with Xander Schauffele.
Cantlay hasn’t regretted being a slow player, admitting at Zurich: “I’m definitely slower than average, and have been my whole career.”
“I’m definitely taking my time.”
Meanwhile, as Tiger Woods recovers from another surgery, caddy Joe LaCava partners Cantlay, starting at this week’s Wells Fargo PGA Championship at Quail Hollow.
LaCava has caddyed for Woods since 2011 and was on the bag when Woods won his 15th major championship at the Masters in 2019.
It was not immediately clear whether his decision to accept a full-time job at Cantlay was an indication that Woods would not return in 2023, after announcing last month that he had undergone surgery to relieve pain at his right leg damaged.
“When I contacted Joe, he told me it was possible and it ended up working out and I’m really happy with it,” Cantlay said Wednesday at Quail Hollow in Charlotte, North Carolina.
— With AFP
