Matt Fitzpatrick thanked two unknown “thieves” who stole his golf ball during a break in play for rain during the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth.
Play in the opening round was halted for more than an hour on Thursday afternoon due to the threat of lightning around the Surrey course. Fitzpatrick hit his drive on the 18th hole into bushes when the siren rang out to signal a suspension in play.
“Dan [Parratt], my caddie asked: ‘What happens if someone goes sniffing around in the bushes and finds your ball, and decides to pocket it?’ I thought that was a great point, because there had to be a good chance of that happening. So we called over a referee and explained the situation and asked whether we should look for the ball then, rather than risk it being taken.
“He took us over to the crowd where we reckoned my ball would have landed. A few people there said they’d seen two young boys dive into the bushes and come out grinning with a golf ball. So we decided the balance of probability was that it was my ball, and that I would take a drop in that spot when we got back.
“I made a six but if I’d had to play my provisional ball it could have been worse. So those two little thieves who made off with my ball probably saved me a shot.”
Fitzpatrick carded a six-under-par 66 to put himself in contention at the end of the first round.
His Ryder Cup teammate Ludvig Aberg held a share of the lead after shooting an eight-under 64 to join Tom Vaillant at the top of the leaderboard, while Rory McIlroy found the water on the final hole to finish five shots back.
McIlroy made birdies on the first and fourth holes before a bogey on the par-three fifth. The Northern Irishman added birdies on the 10th, 12th and 16th. but he hit his approach at the par-five 18th into the water, settling for a bogey and a first-round 69.
Play was suspended again in the evening because of darkness, so Thursday’s late starters were completing their opening rounds on Friday morning.
Read the full article here