Rory McIlroy and Matt Fitzpatrick express frustration as slow play overshadows 2024 Masters

Rory McIlroy and Matt Fitzpatrick were not happy with the slow pace of the game during the second round of the Masters, which led to some rounds going for nearly six hours.

Amid the challenging wind conditions on Friday (April 12), not many players shot low and the cutline was also as high as six-over. Fitzpatrick carded 1-over 73, while McIlroy escaped the cutline after shooting 5-over 77 in the second round.

During the post-round interview, McIlroy expressed disappointment over the slow play and the tough conditions.

"Yeah, it's hard," he said. "Mentally it's a grind because you just have to try to commit as best you can to the shot that you're trying to play. One second you'll have a shot that's playing 150, and then if the wind does something different, the shot could be playing 180. It could be a 30-yard difference."

"Just really hard to -- you have to commit to trying to play the right shot, but then you also have to hit it at the right time as well. So pretty tricky," he added.

Although Fitzpatrick didn't speak to the media following his round, his frustration was visible during the game. On par 5, his shot landed near the lake, but he didn't realize the ball had found the water until he reached the spot.

When he reached the fairway, he realized that it wasn't his ball that he was approaching. He then ended up missing the putt and settled for a bogey, but all this made him quite furious.

However, the Englishman is in a better position than McIlroy, as he is aggregated at an even par after 36 holes and is six strokes back.

Another Englishman, Tyrrell Hatton, had also complained of the slow pace of play during the second round of Masters by Patrick Reed, Kurt Kitayama, and Sungjae Im, who were playing ahead of his group.

"Yeah, the lads in front have been so slow," said Hatton in the post round interview. "It's pretty poor from the officials that it took 32 holes to put them on the clock."

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When will Matt Fitzpatrick and Rory McIlroy tee off at the Masters in 2024?

Matt Fitzpatrick is grouped with Sepp Straka for the third round of the Masters. The duo will tee off on Saturday at 1:15 p.m. ET.

Rory McIlroy is grouped with Camilo Villegas for the Saturday round and will tee off at 10:55 am ET. He is looking to win his first Major in 10 years, but the start so far hasn't been promising.