Justin Rose needed two minutes and 50 seconds to play one shot at Augusta National, drawing frustration from fans watching at home.

On Thursday at the 2026 Masters Tournament, Justin Rose stood on the ninth fairway at Augusta National Golf Club, debating a nine-iron approach with his caddie for nearly three minutes before swinging.

The wind kept shifting, and they couldn’t agree on the yardage or the club. “Don’t get fooled by the optical illusion, stay with the numbers,” his caddie said, as he felt the eight-iron might go too far, but Rose didn’t, and the discussion kept going.

At one point, the caddie said, "We've got no rush at all." But not everyone agreed on what was said, and most comments called it slow play.

"Great convo and shot, but how is it not a time violation?" a fan wrote on X. Carpenter himself loved it and even called staying silent throughout "beautifully done" on his broadcast.

Broadcaster Josh Carpenter clocked it at exactly two minutes and 50 seconds, posted the footage (now removed) on X, and let it run without commentary, showing Rose and his caddie talking.

Rose's performance on Thursday, however, told a different story.

Justin Rose and his Scorecard Told a Better Story Than the Controversy

Apart from that moment on the ninth hole, Rose actually played well on Thursday.

The 45-year-old has finished second at the Masters three times, in 2015, 2017, and again in 2025, including playoff losses in 2017 and 2025.

He played smoothly for 16 holes but then dropped shots on both the 17th and 18th to end his round. The English golfer finished the day three shots behind the lead and later said the early scores didn’t really matter to him.

"I think the lead at this point is irrelevant," he told the Augusta Chronicle. "There's so much golf ahead."

He also brought up the 2007 Masters, the last time a winner finished over par, pointing out that the course would only firm up and get harder as the week went on. Three back, with two rounds left, he has time to make his move again.

Do you think slow play should be penalized more strictly at the Masters? Let us know in the comments.

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Written by

Sneha Abraham

Edited by

Pulkit Prabhav