I come to this court of public opinion to defend Patrick Cantlay, who has become Exhibit A in regards to slow play on the PGA Tour.
Or, perhaps more accurately, point the finger of blame at others as well.
Mr. Cantlay is perfectly capable of defending himself, which he has done when pressed on the subject, but now that social media drives seemingly every narrative known to man and he’s being lit up like the Las Vegas strip at midnight, it never hurts to have a little backup.
To be clear, Mr. Cantlay takes his time on the golf course. His time, his playing competitors’ time, the fans’ time.
We prefer to call it deliberate rather than slow, but we won’t argue that point.
“I'm definitely slower than average; have been my whole career. I definitely take my time,” Mr. Cantlay said last week, having drawn particular attention because of his increased TV time while near the lead at the Masters and RBC Heritage.
Stay with me, here.
Not everyone runs on Mr. Matthew Fitzpatrick time. If they did, three-hour rounds would be the norm on the PGA Tour, and how would there be time for all of the commercials?
Mr. Cantlay didn’t get to be No. 4 in the world ranking by hurrying. If you like fast, search Mr. Usain Bolt on YouTube or PGA Tour players on the 17th hole when darkness is approaching.
If Mr. Cantlay is guilty of anything, it is of being a symptom of a bigger problem. He did not create five-plus-hour rounds on the PGA Tour. They existed before he and others started taking their sweet time studying 8-footers with their feet, their hands, their eyes and their feet again.
Have you watched Mr. Keegan Bradley on the greens? And some caddies who mimic their players on the greens?
There are too many defendants to name.
“We're all operating within the framework of what the tour gives us,” said Mr. Xander Schauffele, Mr. Cantlay’s friend and Zurich Classic of New Orleans teammate.
Now we’re getting somewhere.
The slow-play discussion is part of the PGA Tour fabric, just like FedEx Cup points, two-tee starts and corporate suits being interviewed during weekend telecasts.
Like the tides, it comes and goes, but it’s always there.
“It’s truly appalling,” the time-tidy Mr. Fitzpatrick declared last week, not incorrectly.
Some of it is simple math. Try getting 132 players around Riviera Country Club in February when there is more darkness than daylight. A couple of long rulings or a handful of big scores, and two rounds can take parts of three days in the best weather.
Thanks to sports psychologists, some players have a pre-shot checklist that suggests they’re about to pilot an Airbus ... .
The problem is one of process as much as people, but the players can be better.
Let’s start with whoever introduced the concept of pre-shot routines. Not the old-school version when you’d base the yardage off what you saw and maybe a tree in the corner of a dogleg, pull a club, waggle it a couple of times and fire.
Thanks to sports psychologists, some players have a pre-shot checklist that suggests they’re about to pilot an Airbus, not float an 8-iron into a green the size of a shopping mall.
There is nothing in the rules against what they are doing, though, it should be noted. The Rules of Golf suggest players taking no more than 40 seconds per shot. That’s like suggesting I eat fewer potato chips. It’s good in theory, but unless there is someone slapping my hand when I go for more salt-and-vinegar crisps, I’m going to keep doing it.
In defense of Mr. Cantlay, look around the PGA Tour and see how many players use a line on their golf ball to help them on the greens. Some manufacturers print those lines on the ball, all to help players aim better.
They take time to get the ball lined up properly, only to discover they are off by a millimeter or two, so they go through the process again. Eliminating those lines would be an easy fix that would save some time.
Putting fast greens only adds to the time challenge, it should be noted, but no one is arguing for Stimpmeter readings in the single digits, especially club members who think green speeds are a badge of honor.
As for AimPoint, it’s time consuming for sure, but unless someone is sitting by the green with a shot clock ticking down and the threat of a real penalty, players are free to use it to their advantage.
As an aside, we are not in favor of shot clocks in golf, though it is worth noting that there is a three-minute clock under Rule 18.2 on looking for lost balls, so there is a precedent.
Would the game be better if AimPoint were banned like anchored putting and straddling the line when you make a stroke (hits a little close to home, doesn’t it?)?
Yes, as it stands now, because perception is reality. AimPoint doesn’t have to take seemingly forever – we offer Mr. Max Homa’s critical self-assessment and subsequent commitment to be faster to support the argument – but seeing someone using AimPoint is like seeing a “carts on path” sign at your home course. Spirits sag.
While again acknowledging Mr. Cantlay can be slow or, again, we prefer to call him deliberate, he is one of many who could pick up the pace. That is difficult to do, however, when there is no place to go.
“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.”
Patrick Cantlay
Mr. Cantlay did take an extreme amount of time on the 14th green in the final round of the RBC Heritage when his ball wedged between two railroad ties and he faced a shot that no one practices. However, his group had to wait on the 14th tee for the green to clear in front of them, so they were not dawdling.
Allow us to enter into the record Mr. Cantlay’s comment at the RBC Heritage, citing information he gets as a member of the tour’s Player Advisory Council:
“Rounds have taken about the same length of time for the last 10 or 20 years that they currently take. 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.”
As proof that Mr. Cantlay is cognizant of the issue, he posted a video of his hole-in-one in the RBC Heritage to social media with the simple message: “Playing faster.”
Good one.
And this from Mr. Cantlay:
“I played the last two tournaments, and my group hasn't been warned at all. So, we've been in position the entire time. 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.”
Time par is something the PGA Tour uses to assess where players are in relation to where they should be during competition. Players who linger too long get nudged along. The threat of a penalty stroke is, to this point, just that: a threat.
That’s what Mr. Fitzpatrick was referencing last week when he said, “No one’s going to do anything about it. It’s just the way it’s going to be.”
Mr. Cantlay puts it another way.
“Trying to speed it up, I’d be curious to know how they’d want to do that,” he said.
As for Mr. Cantlay and the rest of us, we are waiting.
Again.
E-MAIL RON
Top: Patrick Cantlay has become a favorite social-media target for slow-play critics.
Andrew Redington, Getty Images