Patrick Cantlay Admits He’s ‘Definitely Slower Than Average’

Cantlay has admitted he's slower than many after the fallout from the pace of play debate ignited at The Masters continues

Patrick Cantlay talks to the media before the 2023 Zurich Classic of New Orleans
Patrick Cantlay admits he's a slower player than average
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Patrick Cantlay has admitted that he’s slower than the average player as the controversy over the pace of play in the final round of The Masters continues.

During the Sunday at Augusta National, Cantlay was in a group with Viktor Hovland, and directly behind them were leaders Brooks Koeopka and Jon Rahm. After the tournament, Koepka was critical of the pace of play, saying: “The group in front of us were brutally slow. Jon [Rahm] went to the bathroom like seven times during the round and we were still waiting."

Many considered the American, rather than the Norwegian, had been mainly at fault, and, as Cantlay prepares to defend his trophy in the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, he admitted he is slower than most. He said: “Yeah, I’m definitely slower than average, have been my whole career. I definitely take my time. And when I hit my ball on a bulkhead, I’m definitely going to take my time to make sure I make the right decision and try to get the ball back into the right spot."

Before last week’s RBC Heritage, Cantlay was also asked about the issue, and remarked that his position on the PGA Tour’s Player Advisory Council offered him a unique insight into the pace of play, and he reiterated the findings this week. He said: "I mean, like I said, being on the PAC’S been interesting because the times that it’s taken to play rounds has been pretty much the same for the last ten or even longer years. So trying to speed it up, I’d be curious to know how they’d want to do that."

He also explained that he hadn’t received any warnings about slow play during either The Masters or at Harbour Town. He said: “I played the last two tournaments, and my group hasn’t been warned at all. So we’ve been in position the entire time.“

Last week, Cantlay also suggested that the group in front of him had been holding play up during The Masters, and he again stressed that can be an issue during tournaments, saying: “I don’t know how you would want even the groups that I’ve been in to play faster when our groups are in position and can’t go faster because the group in front of us is right in front of us."

Cantlay teams up with Xander Schauffele this week, and his partner also weighed in on the debate, saying: “We’re not playing like the local muni that sort of the average Joe compares our time par to. We’re playing for a couple million - you know, $3.6 million. If you’re going to spend an extra minute to make sure you put yourself in the right spot, we’re going to do it.”

Mike Hall
Writer

Mike has over 25 years of experience in journalism, including writing on a range of sports throughout that time, such as golf, football and cricket. Now a freelance staff writer for Golf Monthly, he is dedicated to covering the game's most newsworthy stories. 


He has written hundreds of articles on the game, from features offering insights into how members of the public can play some of the world's most revered courses, to breaking news stories affecting everything from the PGA Tour and LIV Golf to developmental Tours and the amateur game. 


Mike grew up in East Yorkshire and began his career in journalism in 1997. He then moved to London in 2003 as his career flourished, and nowadays resides in New Brunswick, Canada, where he and his wife raise their young family less than a mile from his local course. 


Kevin Cook’s acclaimed 2007 biography, Tommy’s Honour, about golf’s founding father and son, remains one of his all-time favourite sports books.