Matthew Fitzpatrick called out Masters pairing over ‘ridiculous' issue he was fed up with

 Matthew Fitzpatrick is set for an awkward reunion with Patrick Cantlay at the Masters after criticising his "ridiculous" pace of play. The two PGA Tour stars have been drawn together for the first round at Augusta National on Thursday.

The Masters gets underway at 12.40pm UK time, marked by the ceremonial opening shots from Gary Player, Jack Nicklaus, and Tom Watson. Cantlay and Fitzpatrick will play alongside Rasmus Hojgaard when they start their round at 5.33pm. And fiery comments in the past between Fitzpatrick and Cantlay promise a potentially charged dynamic during their contest. Fitzpatrick openly called out the American's slow style at the RBC Heritage in April 2023, venting his frustration over the lack of penalties for his rival's pedestrian pace.

"It's like hitting your head against a brick wall," the Englishman fumed. "No one ever gets penalized. I think the last person to get penalized was the young lad [Guan Tianlang] at The Masters in 2013. I think that tells you enough about where people are at with this. It's ridiculous really.

"I think it's a real issue, way more needs to be done. The thing is I really like referees over here, they are great people, but I did not see a single ref all day. There were a few shots where we were waiting and I don't understand where they are all hiding. It does become frustrating when you are waiting so long."

The Brit is not the only golfer to have expressed frustration with Cantlay's speed, who has previously been criticised for his slow play at the Masters. Brooks Koepka, his former Ryder Cup team-mate, hit out at Cantlay's "brutally slow" approach two years ago after being left exasperated by the pace of play in the group ahead.

Cantlay acknowledged the criticism from both Fitzpatrick and Koepka, admitting: "I'm definitely slower than average, have been my whole career. I definitely take my time. Like I said, being on the PAC [PGA Tour's Player Advisory Council] has been interesting because the times that it's taken to play rounds has been pretty much the same for the last 10 or even longer years."

He added: "So, trying to speed it up, I'd be curious to know how they'd want to do that. I played the last two tournaments, and my group hasn't been warned at all. So, we've been in position the entire time. I don't know how you would want even the groups that I've been in to play faster when our groups are in position and can't go faster because the group in front of us is right in front of us. I haven't had anybody come up to me or talk to me. But I'd be perfectly happy to talk to them about it."

Cantlay also defended his approach by pointing out the high stakes involved, suggesting that the significant prize money justifies taking extra care over each shot. He said: "We're playing for a couple million - you know, $3.6 million (£2.8m). If you're going to spend an extra minute to make sure you put yourself in the right spot, we're going to do it. That's just the nature of our game and our sport."

So far in 2025, Cantlay has achieved T5 finishes at The Genesis Invitational and The American Express but only managed a T33 finish at the recent Valero Texas Open. Fitzpatrick's season highlight up to this point is a T22 placement at the Arnold Palmer Invitational in March.

As the Masters approaches, all eyes are on Scottie Scheffler who enters as the favourite, aiming for his second consecutive green jacket. Rory McIlroy, Collin Morikawa and Jon Rahm follow closely behind.