Patrick Cantlay is going to have a hard week. Finishing T2 at the TOUR Championship, after starting his day tied with eventual champion Tommy Fleetwood, was enough to gnaw on him. But now his infamous pace of play is making the rounds in the golf circuit, overshadowing his unlucky loss. And as if that weren’t enough, Phil Mickelson has finally jumped in on the entire debacle.

With several videos of Cantlay taking an agonizingly long amount of time to take a swing being circulated on social media, one such video was shared by sports commentator Jason Page. Taking a sharp jibe at the American, Page wrote, “If you watch, you can actually see the grass growing under Patrick Cantlay’s feet. Brutal.” Funnily enough, the clip raked in 1.7 million views, drawing hundreds of comments and thousands of likes. Among them was Lefty himself.

Now, if you know Phil Mickelson, you know he rarely goes for direct jabs. He’s built a reputation on sly digs, and that’s exactly what he did. Sharing the video, the 6-time major winner wrote, “He [Cantlay] 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.”

Besides Fleetwood’s stellar win, Cantlay’s shuffling of feet and constant wagging were also the talk of the town in the past week. Many other prominent personalities mocked him, with live commentators getting annoyed at his pre-shot routine. But unlike others, instead of dragging him outright, Mickelson exaggerated the action into something that almost sounds like a backhanded compliment, counting the shuffles like they’re part of a workout routine.

But as you would remember, this isn’t Mickelson’s first time wading into the slow play debate. Back in 2019, after Bryson DeChambeau‘s deliberate routine at the Northern Trust reignited the controversy, Mickelson jumped in to defend green-reading books, which many had blamed for slowing players down. True to form, Lefty stirred the pot with strong words on Twitter, calling the argument “flat out idiotic.” When fellow player Luke Donald shot back with, “I guess I am an idiot then,” Mickelson later replied, “We agree on one thing at least.”

But unlike back then, Mickelson may have learned how to cleverly put his thoughts across, instead of having to take them back later on. Bringing a humorous edge to his comment makes it more like a fun leg pulling than an outright criticism or hot take. Regardless, Cantlay’s pace of play was also evident throughout the FedEx Cup playoffs as a whole.

Just a few weeks ago, at the BMW Championship, NBC highlighted how far behind “time par” the Lowry-Cantlay group was. “The Lowry-Cantlay group is going on the clock right now to be timed,” said Dan Dusbabek, a PGA Tour official. At the time, Cantlay shrugged it off, saying his focus was on “making the lowest score,” and not worrying about anything else.

However, as Lefty has jumped on Patrick Cantlay’s bandwagon, the Internet is buzzing with reactions.

Lefty’s latest jab at Cantlay has the Internet talking

Since his tweet, Phil Mickelson’s post has gotten around 1.3 million views and hundreds of reactions. While Mickelson’s playful jab resonated with many, some felt it was a deliberate attempt to stir controversy. Let us look at some of the reactions.

With Mickelson’s sly dig garnering dozens of attention, one user commented: “Elite rage bait from gramps here. Replies are on fire.” Mickelson is now one of the elder statesmen of golf, and his indirect jab at Cantlay blew up the comment sections with banter and debate. This is a typical reaction to many of Lefty’s jokes online.

On the same lines, another user said, “Phil is funny as hell man lol.” Over the years, Mickelson has developed a reputation for quick wit and self-deprecating humor. Back in 2002, when Tiger Woods was being introduced with a litany of titles at the TOUR Championship, Mickelson stepped in mid-flow, deadpanning, “Alright, alright. We know.” Echoing the sentiment, another commentator said, “This is an all-time subtweet.”

Phil is not new to the calves debate. The 6-time major has long been known for his famously muscular calves, which he’s spotlighted in videos and ads. Drawing on that, a user said, “I promised myself I wasn’t going to watch this. But when Phil tells you secrets to growing your calves, you gotta watch and listen to the king.”

But then, of course, there were a few who were not impressed by Mickelson’s clever humor. “Some people just nag and complain and call it journalism,” a user said, likely at Mickelson’s and Jason Page’s observation on Patrick Cantlay’s coverage. Around the same front, another user jumped in to defend Cantlay with, “Everybody has a routine. Don’t knock it.” Yes, true, but this routine has, over the years, irked a lot of players. From Brooks Koepka calling this ‘routine’ “brutally slow” during the 2023 Masters to Matt Fitzpatrick branding it “appalling” and a “disgrace,” Cantlay’s pace of play has gotten into a lot of players’ nerves.

All in all, Mickelson’s tweet sparked a variety of reactions. It definitely gave the internet users a much-needed relief.