“Public shaming won’t work on Cantlay” – PGA Tour pro defends Patrick Cantlay amid slow-play criticism 

Patrick Cantlay has been in the news ever since the 2023 Masters. The golfer has been on the receiving end of criticism for slow play. The World No. 4 golfer reportedly made other golfers wait at Augusta as well as at the RBC Heritage.

As the PGA Tour golfer continues to receive criticism, fellow circuit star Michael Kim has come out to defend him. Backing Cantlay, Kim said that the 31-year-old doesn’t rank among the ‘slowest players on PGA Tour.’ Claiming that several others are slower than Cantlay, the American said that there should be a ‘monthly report’ on players playing slow. He also said that ‘public shaming won’t work on Cantlay’ but might have an effect on others.

Backing Patrick Cantlay amid slow-play criticism, Michael Kim tweeted:

“Y’all think Cantlay is slow… you should see some others… I think there should be a monthly report of the slowest players on PGA Tour. Public shaming won’t work on Cantlay but might work on others.”

Interestingly, this isn’t the first time a pro has asked for a ‘slow play report’ on golfers. In 2019, DP World Tour’s Edoardo Molinari, brother of Francesco Molinari, called out players like Tiger Woods, Patrick Reed, Bryson DeChambeau, and his brother Francesco for slow play. He tweeted out a 150-player 'slow-play report.' The circuit looked into the matter and even fined three players with $3,000 each.

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Patrick Cantlay defends himself amid slow-play criticism

Players including the likes of Brooks Koepka, Matt Fitzpatrick, and Jordan Spieth have complained about the slow play after following Patrick Cantlay. All three were made to wait by Cantlay for their game at the Masters and RBC Heritage. Following their criticism, the 31-year-old eventually came out to defend himself.

Cantlay addressed the slow-play allegations against him and said, via Golf Channel:

"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.”

He added:

“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."

According to reports, both Fitzpatrick and Spieth were annoyed by Patrick Cantlay’s pace at RBC Heritage. They allegedly expressed their annoyance at their fellow golfer publicly at the event.