Patrick Cantlay is never far away from the golfing headlines, and not always for the right reasons.
Cantlay was the villain of the 2023 Ryder Cup after refusing to wear his hat throughout the tournament. The American was allegedly protesting about the lack of payment made to those who participated.
The 32-year-old is also known for taking his time over shots and has been accused of slow play on multiple occasions. Cantlay’s slow play at the 2023 Masters drew criticism from fans and Brooks Koepka, who was playing in the group behind his compatriot in the final round.
Furthermore, during the RBC Heritage, Cantlay was heckled by the crowd for taking too long over his shots.
Slow play has been a long-term issue within golf, particularly within the professional circuits. Thankfully, PGA Tour professional Michael S. Kim has the answer.
Michael S. Kim’s Patrick Cantlay claim
Speaking on the latest edition of the Smylie Show, Kim came up with a hilarious idea to crack down on the issue.
“The one for the general tour is that I think you can set this line at any point, but when you play the PGA Tour schedule, they give you your average time you have spent hitting a tee shot and whatever, and it gives you an overall average,” Kim said.
“Mine is at 38 seconds. Anyone over, let’s say if average on tour was 40 seconds, anyone over 42 seconds – a slow player – they have to wear a different coloured bib so everyone on the field knows!
“Or the top 10 slowest guys, their caddies wear a bib, and these guys are going to get heckled like crazy. This is probably why it’s a bad idea. But public shaming is the only way we are going to fix some of these guys!”
The Seoul-born American went on to make an interesting claim about Cantlay.
“I was tweeting this,” he added. “Patrick Cantlay gets a lot of heat for being a slow player, and he’s definitely slower than average, but I promise you there are slower players than Pat. Pat looks bad because he takes a lot over the ball, which is why the camera is on, but he’s pretty quick before that. There are a lot of guys who are the opposite, and that’s even worse!”
Ne slow play rule set to come into force
Interestingly, the PGA Tour has proposed a new rule that will actually benefit Brian Harman and Cantlay, two notoriously slow players.
It’s believed that the proposed changes will be presented to the board in November and that more leniency will be given to those who are known to take their time.
Key alterations include reducing the fines handed out for slow play and suggesting that players should be given more time to get the ball back into play via a drop.
Interestingly, Cantlay now sits on the PGA Tour board, so these suggestions should come as no surprise.
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