20 April 2023 , 08:04
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Patrick Cantlay has responded to criticism over his slow pace of play after Matt Fitzpatrick branded it "ridiculous" during the recent RBC Heritage.
Fitzpatrick and Cantlay were playing partners at the event and the Brit, who went on to win the title, was left frustrated by Cantlay's pace at times and called for golf chiefs to be more proactive about the issue with slow play penalties rarely given out. "It's like hitting your head against a brick wall," Fitzpatrick said.
"No one ever gets penalised. I think the last person to get penalised was the young lad [Guan Tianlang] at The Masters in 2013. I think that tells you enough about where people are at with this. It's ridiculous really.
"I think it's a real issue, way more needs to be done. The thing is I really like referees over here, they are great people, but I did not see a single ref all day. There were a few shots we were waiting and I don't understand where they are all hiding. It does become frustrating when you are waiting so long."
Fitzpatrick's comments came after Brooks Koepka criticised Cantlay's "brutally slow" play at the Masters. However, ahead of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, Cantlay has defended himself and claimed nobody has approached him to talk about their issues privately.
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"I'm definitely slower than average, have been my whole career," Cantlay admitted. "I definitely take my time. Like I said, being on the PAC [PGA Tour's Player Advisory Council] has been interesting because the times that it's taken to play rounds has been pretty much the same for the last 10 or even longer years.
Matt Fitzpatrick voiced his frustration after playing alongside Cantlay at the RBC Heritage (Getty Images)"So, trying to speed it up, I'd be curious to know how they'd want to do that. 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. I haven't had anybody come up to me or talk to me. But I'd be perfectly happy to talk to them about it."
Cantlay was also defended by Xander Schauffele, who will be his teammate in New Orleans as they look to defend the crown they won last year. "All the things that have happened as of late have all been within the guidelines of the Tour and what's supposed to happen," he said.
Xander Schauffele has also weighed in, defending Cantlay (Getty Images)"No one's been penalised for slow play or anything of that nature, so we're all operating within the framework of what the Tour gives us. If enough people complain or if enough Tour pros complain, that's something the Tour needs to address to either make it faster or change the time par.
"Without any context, it gets tricky because when you set up golf courses with Stimp 13 or 14 greens, tees in interesting positions, and pins in tough spots, it's just going to take longer. 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, $3.6m (£2.9m). 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. That's just the nature of our game and our sport."