After teeing off on the par-5 eighth gap, Matt Fitzpatrick seen a slight crack in his driver, which clearly affected his ball flight.
He referred to as over a PGA Tour guidelines official, who inspected the small crevice that scarred the center of the face. The referee then used his nail to coarse the crack, inspecting it intently to see if Fitzpatrick may exchange his driver head halfway via his spherical. The 2022 U.S. Open champion mentioned he had a few spare driver heads in his locker and would make the change on the flip if allowed.
Nonetheless, the official, citing a United States Golf Affiliation’s (USGA) mannequin native rule, deemed that the membership was not replaceable as a result of crack’s lack of severity. Due to this fact, Fitzpatrick couldn’t exchange the pinnacle as a consequence of a scarcity of serious injury.
The Englishman referred to as the verdict “outrageous,” including that he must hit 3-wood off the tee for the remainder of the day.
Matt Fitzpatrick, thirty sixth within the FedExCup coming into the week, referred to as for a ruling for a driver crack.
Beneath the USGA’s Mannequin Native Rule G-9, a membership will not be replaceable solely due to a crack, and he was not permitted to switch it on the time as a consequence of lack of serious injury. pic.twitter.com/X5kEPkee1q
— PGA TOUR LIVE (@PGATOURLIVE) August 25, 2024
“There was a minor crack within the precise middle a part of the face, of which you could possibly not solely see, however there was some extent of really feel connected to that. That is the place the committee has to decide as as to whether that membership is considerably broken. Versus the conventional guidelines of golf that apply to everybody else, he would be capable to exchange that broken membership as a result of it didn’t occur in instances of abuse, for instance,” defined Stephen Cox, the chief referee for the BMW Championship this week.
“However we on the PGA Tour, similar to different main golf excursions world wide, have a barely stricter guideline relating to when a participant is permitted to take a broken membership out of play, and that membership must be considerably broken. In our evaluation, not solely with the primary official but additionally a few others, together with myself, that threshold of being considerably broken hadn’t been considerably met. Though there was a small crack within the face, there was no separation within the metals, and on that foundation, that threshold wasn’t met, so his solely selection in that case was to proceed utilizing that membership.”
Cox added that if Fitzpatrick broken it additional, the tour would reexamine it after which reassess its resolution. As such, Fitzpatrick tried to make use of his cracked driver on the tough par-4 tenth. However he hit a snap hook off the tee. He wound up making double, additional fueling his frustration.
Regardless of that, Fitzpatrick did bounce again considerably, making 4 birdies and two bogies over his remaining six holes. He posted a 2-under 70 for his remaining spherical, which put him in a tie for twenty sixth. However his late rally down the stretch was not sufficient. Sadly, Fitzpatrick didn’t qualify for subsequent week’s Tour Championship in Atlanta, as the highest 30 gamers within the FedEx Cup standings make it to East Lake. Fitzpatrick is projected to complete thirty sixth, thus lacking the Tour Championship for the primary time since 2021.
So not solely does Fitzpatrick go away Colorado with a cracked driver, however he additionally finishes his PGA Tour season with a bitter style.
No less than he completed among the many prime 50, thus guaranteeing him a spot in each Signature Occasion subsequent season. Hopefully, he can have a extra appropriate driver by then.
Jack Milko is a golf employees author for SB Nation’s Enjoying By way of. You should definitely try @_PlayingThrough for extra golf protection. You may comply with him on Twitter @jack_milko as nicely.
