Why Is the 2024 Masters Disappointing for Many Players? Exploring the Annoying Factor Ruining Augusta Experience

Masters met with a couple of hiccups on the very first day. The torrid weather conditions delayed round 1 by two and a half hours. To make matters worse, another recurring concern came to light once again, which happens to be the pace of play. While slow play was not taken lightly at the ANWA, which resulted in a penalty for Anna Davis, the men’s major at the Augusta National has not found its counterpart.

No measure has been taken as of yet, despite “Rounds taking about 5 hours 45 minutes” on Day 2. This has driven many golfers off the edge, and they have come in unison to express their annoyance at this lost rhythm.

Slow pace disrupts the Augusta experience for the golfers

Tyrell Hatton, known for his candid persona, expressed his annoyance regarding the matter. Nuclr Golf chose to share the LIV golfer’s opinion on its X handle (formerly known as Twitter). Hatton began by addressing the slow pace of golfers on day 1, which happened to worsen on the following day, and stated, “Yeah, the lads in front have been so slow. It’s pretty poor from the officials that it took 32 holes to put them on the clock. Yesterday they’d lost a hole and a half, and then they weren’t any better even this morning, and then for the second round they were just brutal.” 

Later, he expanded on the topic of how the whole situation for the golfers who teed off early is not a big issue but surely a hassle for the ones who are playing after them, “Fine for them; they’re not waiting on any shot that they hit. But for us, we stood in the fairway, we stood on the tee. It was really hard to get a rhythm, so it was disappointing that it took 32 holes for an official to go, oh, we’ve put the group in front on the clock.”

But who is behind this excruciatingly lengthy pace-of-play that the Masters is currently witnessing? While the exact answer to this remains unknown, the golf world’s best guess is Patrick Cantlay. “My money is on Cantlay. I get that the wind requires some backing off and resetting at times, but Cantlay has a history. Scheffler & group have waited almost every hole on back 9… a lot,” said a netizen holding last year’s Masters’ slow play proponent accountable for this year’s befalling.

Tyrrell Hatton was not the only golfer who complained of a loss of rhythm, other pros experienced the same obstacle, but the reason behind it was due to the other prevalent condition at the Augusta National Golf Course—the weather!

Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy’s struggle with slow play at the Masters

Joining Hatton in his annoyance are other big names like Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy. While Rahm is currently placed at T44 with a score of 5-over-par, McIlroy is at T35 with a score of 4-over-par. Talking about the hard conditions that have led to their fall from grace, Rahm said, “How long did it take us to play? Over six hours to play just because they had to blow the greens in between groups, and then when you get to a group, people stepping back and back in. It’s just, again, borderline…It’s about as hard a golf course as I’ve seen in a very long time.”

McIlroy was not far behind in expressing his take, he said, “It was stop and start, hard to get into a rhythm with the conditions and obviously how slow the play was as well.”

While the decision to put the problematic group on the clock was taken several hours later, it remains to be seen whether the ANGC will maintain its leniency in the days to come or take a step as it did with the 18-year-old amateur Anna Davis.