PGA Tour told to "nail" Cantlay with "huge fine" for breaking unwritten rule
Former Presidents Cup vice-captain Tony Johnstone believes Patrick Cantlay should be handed a "huge fine" after failing to shout "fore" during the opening round of the Genesis Invitational.
Cantlay impressed on day one at Riviera Country Club, setting the opening round lead thanks to a seven-under-par 64. Six-time European winner, Johnstone however was left unimpressed with the American's etiquette as he broke one of golf's unwritten rules after two miss-fired shots on the final hole.
The former FedEx Cup champion hit a wayward tee shot on the par-four 18th, pulling his drive left which went hit one of the course ball-spotter's. He then followed this up with another off-target attempt, as his second flew towards the green-side crowd.
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Cantlay failed to call "fore" on the back of his errant tee shot, and appeared to do the same with his second attempt too, before a late call came from a member of his group. Johnstone was not impressed, taking to X (formerly Twitter ) to criticise the tournament leader. "Back to back shots and Cantlay hits a ball-spotter and then spectators around the green.
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"Would a shout of ‘fore’ be out of the question?” He then added in a follow-up: "[He] should be nailed with a huge fine.” Cantlay is a man who has not been far from controversy in recent months, having taken on the role of pantomime villain at last Autumn's Ryder Cup.
Reports suggested the 38-year-old had caused a split within the Team USA locker room in Rome, having reportedly been left unhappy over not being paid to represent his country. Just weeks later, Cantlay's name was embroiled in controversy again, after it was claimed he was trying to 'take over' the PGA Tour's Policy Board.
Patrick Cantlay ended round one with the lead at Riviera (Getty Images)The world No. 5 is currently an active Player Director on the board, in what is an important time for the PGA Tour, who remain in negotiations with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia (PIF) over ending their ongoing feud with LIV Golf. Cantlay himself addressed the claims at the end of 2023, playing down his reported coup.
"I just don’t think you can trust everything you read on the internet,” he told Golf.com last December. "I think if you just look at the facts that are out there, it would be impossible for any one player to take control. I mean, it would be impossible for all the players together to take control.
"We only have half the seats on the board, and any major vote around any of the things we’ve been talking about requires a two-thirds majority. And also, considering that the Tour has hired [the titan investment bank] Allen and Co., and given the Tour has been driving discussions since even before the framework agreement was announced, I mean, given that set of facts it’s just impossible for that to be the case.”
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