Tyrrell Hatton blasts group for ‘brutal’ slow play at Masters

Tyrrell Hatton suffered a sour end to his second round at the Masters.

Frustrated by how long it took to get off the golf course, Hatton slammed officials for failing to put the group in front on the clock.

Patrick Reed, Kurt Kitayama and Sungjae Im held up Hatton, Keegan Bradley and Matthieu Pavon, who at one point were a full hole behind the previous group.

“Yeah, the lads in front have been so slow,” Hatton said, after carding a two-over-par 72. “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.

“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.”

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The round left Hatton on two-over-par heading into the weekend, with Pavon three shots better off and Bradley likely to miss the cut on five-over-par.

Both Reed and Kitayama comfortably made the cut, while Im had a week to forget, finishing on seven-over-par after two rounds.

Hatton still had time for another swipe, though, insisting every hole must have been a ‘tough hole’ for the trio in front.

“I said to someone walking up 8 — we stood on the 8th waiting to hit our second shots in, and they’re still putting out, and the lads in front of them have teed off 10,” he said.

“It’s a small field. It’s not hard to really keep up with the group in front. I understand if you’ve had a tough hole, but when it’s just like every hole, then it’s a bit more frustrating.”

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Slow play concerns were raised at the Masters last year, as Patrick Cantlay was the villain.

Brooks Koepka lamented a ‘brutally slow’ final round, after his playing partner Jon Rahm “went to the bathroom like seven times during the round”.

Meanwhile, with some rounds exceeding five hours last year, similar concerns were raised by Hatton this time around.

Asked if that could play out again, he said: “Yeah, the last two days the rounds are going to take longer here because of the conditions we face. That’s just the reality of it.”

John Turnbull A graduate of the University of Stirling, John joined the bunkered team in 2023 as a Content Producer, with a responsibility for covering all breaking news, tour news, grassroots content and much more besides. A keen golfer, he plays the majority of his golf at Falkirk Golf Club. Top of his 'bucket list' is a round of Pebble Beach... ideally in the company of Gareth Bale.