Fellow PGA Tour pro defends Patrick Cantlay

Patrick Cantlay has been widely condemned by golf fans, pundits and even fellow players over the past couple of weeks because of his slow play. 

The world No.4 has been criticised for his ponderous pace at both The Masters and last week’s RBC Heritage.

He has, however, found an ally – of sorts – in Byeong Hun An.  

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The former BMW PGA champion says it’s “not fair” that Cantlay is being singled out for criticism, insisting that he’s by no means the only offender.  

“There are many slow guys who is [sic] just not on TV,” tweeted the South Korean. “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.” 

Replying to a follower, he added: “I average 31 seconds per shot and I’m 250 out of 269 players. Which means there are 19 players who play faster than me.  

“Is 45 seconds enough? Definitely. Sometimes I wonder what they have in the yardage book that they stare at for ages.” 

Challenged by another Twitter user to have a private word with slow players and encourage them to get a move on, An replied: “We don’t have to tell them to hurry the f**k up. Rules officials do. Do u think they are going to listen when we tell them.” 

Quizzed by reporters over his pace ahead of last week’s RBC Heritage at Harbour Town, Cantlay was adamant that he hadn’t been the problem at Augusta National. 

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“When you play a golf course like Augusta National where all the hole locations are on lots of slope and the greens are really fast, it’s just going to take longer and longer to hole out,” he said. 

“I think that may have been what attributed to some of the slow play on Sunday, and then also when the wind is gusting and the wind is blowing maybe inconsistently, that’s when guys will take a long time, too. I think that’s just the nature of playing professional golf, where every shot matters so much.” 

Michael McEwan is the Deputy Editor of bunkered and has been part of the team since 2004. In that time, he has interviewed almost every major figure within the sport, from Jack Nicklaus, to Rory McIlroy, to Donald Trump. The host of the multi award-winning bunkered Podcast and a member of Balfron Golfing Society, Michael is the author of three books and is the 2023 PPA Scotland 'Writer of the Year' and 'Columnist of the Year'. Dislikes white belts, yellow balls and iron headcovers. Likes being drawn out of the media ballot to play Augusta National.

Deputy Editor