Along with the excitement that the Masters Tournament brought last week also came some controversies. Patrick Cantlay stood at the helm of one such controversy for that revolved around his slow pace of play. And now once more the golf pro has come into the negative light of the golf world, this time thanks to his pairing with Matthew Fitzpatrick at this week’s PGA Tour event, because of what the Englishman brings to the table!
Matthew Fitzpatrick is the complete opposite of Patrick Cantlay
The slow pace during the rounds of golf has been a big issue talked about in recent times. With players taking their own sweet time to play the ball, the time taken for rounds has dramatically increased. This has infuriated both the fans and the officials. And last week, after his slow-play antics at the Masters, Cantlay felt the fans’ wrath.
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But completely opposite to the 8-time PGA Tour winner’s playing style is that of Fitzpatrick’s. As per a recent revelation made by Golf Digest’s PGA Tour reporter, Evin Priest, on Twitter, the Britisher “does most of his pre-shot routine WHILE playing partner hits” and is ready to hit soon after they have finished.
Matt Fitzpatrick. Does most of his pre-shot routine WHILE playing partner hits, so he’s ready to hit almost as soon as they have. Elite pace of play and golf needs more of it
— Evin Priest (@EvinPriest) April 15, 2023
Priest saluted the reigning US Open champion and wrote, “Elite pace of play and golf needs more of it.” And of course, the golf world agreed with him; they loved watching Fitzpatrick quickly get in his shot right after his paired opponent and speed up the rounds. But alas, this week at the RBC Heritage, his pairing was none other than Cantlay!
Golf world lashes out at Cantlay
Since the two sat atop the leaderboard after the third round of the RBC Heritage this week, they are paired together for the final day. While the score may be close, the golf fans aren’t too excited about the pairing at all. Taking to Twitter, they based Cantlay, certain that on Sunday this week, too, he would slow down play, ruining the fun of watching Fitzpatrick’s game.
He's playing with Cantlay tomorrow. Not good. He's sooooo slow 😒
— Mairead McDowell (@MaireadMcdowell) April 15, 2023
He will have a lot of time for his pre-shot routine tomorrow. 🤣 pic.twitter.com/EvL2zOvnec
— 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸Paula Abdul Jabbar🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 (@marvNglen) April 15, 2023
Tomorrow he’ll need to do that preshot routine a few times while his partner hits. Hopefully that won’t hold home back…
— Sam Cosh (@SamCosh2) April 15, 2023
The fans trolled the American golfer, and one even suggested that all his fans would root for the Britisher tomorrow. Another person subtly hinted that he shouldn’t be allowed to play.
It's mental that there is a good chance of Americans rooting for an Englishman over an American tomorrow
— Sean (@exile_1991) April 16, 2023
And now he gets stuck playing with Cantlay in the final group tomorrow. Slow play affects fast players way more than fast players affecting slow players.
— Krisno (@kriznastee) April 15, 2023
Tour needs a backbone and start fining the slow players
— Mike McG (@EffTruck) April 15, 2023
Many fans even sang high praises of Fitzpatrick and suggested that all the players and even the amateurs should learn from him.
Every single amateur should read this tweet. The second someone is done, someone else should be in their final 5-10 seconds of their process #PlayBadFaster
— Corpy (@Corpy24) April 15, 2023
I’ve been preaching this. Why don’t all players do this instead of starting numbers, wind, etc after other players hit.
— Ernist T Bass (@stevensj99) April 15, 2023
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i don't get with all the standing around these guys aren't ALL ready to hit and putt when their turn
— Keith McConnachie (@KeithMcConnach1) April 15, 2023
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How do you think the final round will go with the two players with opposite playing styles clubbed together? Let us know in the comments below.
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