Patrick Cantlay responds to slow pace complaints from Brooks Koepka

Aug 21, 2022; Wilmington, Delaware, USA; Patrick Cantlay waves to fans as he walks off the course after winning the BMW Championship golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-USA TODAY Sports

Patrick Cantlay responded this week to complaints about his pace of play during the final round of the Masters on Sunday.

Koepka and Jon Rahm were in the final pairing, and their round took nearly five hours. Koepka, who choked away a 54-hole lead and finished tied for second behind Rahm, was asked after Sunday’s final round about the pace of play.

Koepka complained that the group in front of them was “brutally slow.”

Brooks Koepka on the slow play of Patrick Cantlay and Viktor Hovland in front of him and Jon Rahm:

Yeah, the group in front of us was brutally slow. Jon went to the bathroom like seven times during the round, and we were still waiting. #themasters

— Zach Klein (@ZachKleinWSB) April 10, 2023

Cantlay and Viktor Hovland were in the group in front of him and Rahm.

Cantlay, an 8-time PGA Tour winner, went the Shaggy route and claimed “It wasn’t me.”

“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. … I imagine it was slow for everyone,” Cantlay said Tuesday ahead of the RBC Heritage in Hilton Head, S.C.

That’s how it works. Everyone behind the first group can just complain that the group in front of them was too slow and caused the backup. That’s what Cantlay is doing.

Koepka is no stranger to complaining about pace of play. But he can’t blame the pace of play for his 3-over 75 on Sunday.