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Patrick Cantlay fell to Tommy Fleetwood on the final day of the TOUR Championship to finish in a tie for second place in his latest tournament. Many, including Phil Mickelson, celebrated his inability to finish first for a number of reasons.
Most notably, viewers were happy to see Fleetwood land his first PGA Tour victory after a number of close calls. It was simply a cherry on top to see it come at Cantlay’s expense.
Cantlay and Fleetwood entered the final day of the tournament tied at -16. They’d go in opposite directions on the leaderboard in Round 4.
Fleetwood shot -2 on Sunday to finish at -18. Cantlay was +1 to fall to -15.
The first-place finish earned Tommy Fleetwood his first Tour win, which came in his 164th event. His previously winless run included 31 Top 5s, six third-place performances, and six more runners-up.
The monkey was finally off of his back!
The victory also made him a much richer man. Fleetwood banked $10 million after the fact.
Patrick Cantlay missed out on an extra $5.65 million.
His T-2 finish came with a $4.35 million payout. It’s far from chump change, but a win would’ve more than double the total.
After starting his final round deadlocked atop the leaderboard, the result was most certainly disappointing.
The positively miserable look on Patrick Cantlay’s face makes the whole afternoon worthwhile.
Such an insufferable human being.
Hope Tommy takes as long going over the scorecard as Cantlay did standing over each shot.#TourChampionship pic.twitter.com/wTQx46AzO5
— Jason Page (@TheBackPage) August 24, 2025
Viewers celebrated in Cantlay’s misery, though. They’d grown tired of his infuriating antics!
Cantlay plays at one of the slowest paces on the circuit. His pre-swing ritual at the tee box can feel like a lifetime.
I mean, you just can’t be having this. Cantlay is completely unwatchablepic.twitter.com/2QeYJrjwh6
— Kendall Baker (@kendallbaker) August 25, 2025
The golfer takes his time lining up shots. His waggle is never-ending.
The pace of play has drawn the ire of both players and viewers in the past. Still, he continues to drag his routines out to the extent that everyone takes note.
Even the commentating crew was over it by Sunday.
I very much enjoy that Dan Hicks is as annoyed watching Cantlay as the rest of us are. #TourChampionship
— Mike Greenberg (@Espngreeny) August 24, 2025
Phil Mickelson mocked the slow playing golfer.
The LIV Golfer took a sarcastic swipe at Patrick Cantlay on X. The jab came in a response to an angry viewer’s online criticism.
“If you watch, you can actually see the grass growing under Patrick Cantlay’s feet,” the social media user wrote.
Mickelson reacted with a comical reply.
He shuffled his right foot 26 times. 26 TIMES before he hit it. 26 x 36 other shots is 936 foot shuffles. That’s more calf raises than I’ll ever do. You also must be in peak physical condition to do this daily so let’s stop all the hate and appreciate that golfers are athletes.
Mickelson only fueled the Cantlay hate. Frustrations continue to mount in regard to the slow play. The PGA Tour has threatened to take action. To this point, it’s done little to deter golf’s most frequent offender.