Patrick Cantlay hits back at criticism regarding slow pace 

Patrick Cantlay was third in the RBC Heritage over the weekend, but it's how he played that is making all the headlines. The World No. 4 is known as one of the slower players on the PGA Tour, but that has been front and center as of late.

At the RBC Heritage, there was a specific moment that reportedly made Jordan Spieth and Matt Fitzpatrick (who went to a playoff with Fitzpatrick edging Spieth out) frustrated. On the 14th hole, Cantlay hit a ball past the hole and into a difficult spot. He had to decide whether he wanted to play the ball where it lay or take the drop.

For almost five minutes, he and his caddie deliberated. That's a long time with no action, even for golf. Eventually, he decided to play it, but not after frustrating those around him.

Cantlay addressed his perceived slow play via Golf Channel:

"Just needed to make sure I was totally committed to what I decided to do there. I wasn't decided until the end, but ultimately I thought that if I would have dropped it, it would have meant double bogey more than likely, and I wanted to at least give myself a chance to stay in the golf tournament and try and get it up-and-down, which I did."

Per Golf Channel, LPGA Tour legend Dottie Pepper said that the two golfers ahead of Cantlay were annoyed with him:

"Both Fitzpatrick and Spieth were pretty upset at the 14th about the time it took to make a decision to play the shot, but it's part of being a professional — do what you can to get back in the moment."

This is not the first time Patrick Cantlay has been accused of slowing a tournament down. At the Masters, Brooks Koepka called him out for his slow play. Cantlay hit back then, too:

“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 going to take longer and longer to hole out."

With more golfers reportedly growing tired of his pace of play, Cantlay may have to change his approach soon.

---

Does Patrick Cantlay need to go faster?

Patrick Cantlay's slow play has become the subject of much scrutiny. Golf is an admittedly slow game, especially compared to other sports. However, Cantlay and others go even slower than normal.

Does Patrick Cantlay need to speed up?

Luke Kerr-Dineen of Golf.com said:

"Cantlay is far from the only slower-than-average player on tour, but he's also one of golf's very best players. Top players get more air time and thus more scrutiny. Top players get into contention more, which tends to make them go slower. It's all combined to make him a kind of symbol for a very real issue in golf, which isn't fair to Cantlay. He's an example of a product of the system, not the cause of it."

It's clear that many believe the system needs to change, and it may. How will that affect Patrick Cantlay and others?