PGA Tour fans blast Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele
Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele were accused of playing too slowly during the final round of the Genesis Invitational on the PGA Tour.
Patrick Cantlay and Xander Schauffele's pace of play during the final round of the Genesis Invitational appeared to upset a number of golf fans.
The duo were the final pairing at Tiger Woods' PGA Tour event but found themselves well of the pace early on Sunday.
Cantlay and Schauffele were a full hole behind having only played seven.
During the CBS broadcast, Jim Nantz even commented: "It's early in the round. There is a noticeable gap between these two [final] pairings.
"Is there a reason for that?"
A number of those watching on X were quick to suggest there was only one reason why.
One person said: "Are there Patrick Cantlay fans? People who enjoy just exhaustingly slow play?"
Another chimed in: "I truly believe that Patrick Cantlay's slow play cost Brooks Koepka a green jacket and I will not be convinced otherwise."
Others thought Schauffele was the problem.
"Cantlay gets a bad rep, but Xander is noticeably slower over his putts," one user said.
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It should be noted the penultimate group included Luke List, who turned in a remarkable 6-under 30 at Riviera.
His card included as many as five (!) three's across his opening six holes.
GolfMagic reported earlier in the week how List was putting like a man possessed.
As for Cantlay, he has addressed pace of play problems in the past.
Jim Nantz: "It's early in the round. There is a noticeable gap between these two [final] pairings. Is there a reason for that?"
Um, I can think of one.— Jason Sobel (@JasonSobelTAN) February 18, 2024
Memorably, he was called out by Brooks Koepka during the final round of the 2023 Masters.
For his part Cantlay claimed he was waiting too at Augusta National.
He later said: "We finished the first hole, and the group in front of us was on the second tee when we walked up to the second tee, and we waited all day on pretty much every shot.
"We waited on the 15th fairway, we waited on the 18th fairway. I imagine it was slow for everyone."
Final pairing of Xander Schauffele and Patrick Cantlay is currently over a hole behind the penultimate pairing.
Currently in No. 5 fairway as the group ahead tees off on 7— Zephyr Melton (@zephyrmelton) February 18, 2024
Cantlay also said the weather and set-ups play a huge part in how quickly golfers are.
For example, if you have tough pin positions then only one thing is going to happen.
"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 just going to take longer and longer to hole out," he said.
"I think that may have been what attributed to some of the slow play on Sunday, and then also when the wind is gusting and the wind is blowing maybe inconsistently, that's when guys will take a long time, too.
"I think that's just the nature of playing professional golf, where every shot matters so much."
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