PGA Tour star Patrick Cantlay was once again subject to criticism of slow play during this past weekend’s RBC Heritage — this time from patrons in attendance.
A week after Brooks Koepka called him out for slow play at the Masters, Cantlay faced the wrath from the gallery on the Par-3 No. 14 in the final round Sunday. After pulling his tee shot 55 feet from the pin, Cantlay’s second shot chip sprinted past the green and appeared to be water bound. Luckily enough for Cantlay, a bulkhead caught the ball.
“That chip was obviously faster than it looked,” Cantlay said after his solo third-place finish, via the Golf Channel. “Jordan [Spieth] hit it past and I did as well. It was in a spot that you never practice or play from with it being wedged in between the bulkhead there. Yeah, it was precarious.”
Cantlay contemplated his next move for nearly five minutes, leading to audible boos from the gallery. Jon Rahm suggested on air for him to take a drop.
“Take a drop.” said Rahm, who temporarily joined the CBS broadcast team after his round ended. “Hopefully make a four and try to go on a tear on the last few holes. That’s all you can do… It’s a massive risk over something that you’ve never practiced. There are too many unknowns in this situation.”
Fellow PGA Tour Stars Reportedly Unhappy with Patrick Cantlay
Cantlay, however, opted to go for it. His line of thinking proved to be correct, as the 31-year-old put his wedge shot four feet from the hole. He converted his bogey putt to drop just one shot. He later addressed the time he spent lining up the shot amid the boos.
“Just needed to make sure I was totally committed to what I decided to do there,” Cantlay said. “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.”
Spieth and eventual winner Matthew Fitzpatrick weren’t pleased with how long it took Cantlay to decide to hit the ball from the bulkhead, according to CBS on-course reporter Dottie Pepper.
“Both Fitzpatrick and Spieth were pretty upset at the 14th about the time it took to make a decision to play the shot,” Pepper said. “But it’s part of being a professional — do what you can to get back in the moment.”
More must-reads: