Matt Fitzpatrick believes two young ‘thieves’ may have saved him a shot after a surreal scenario that saw his ball disappear at the BMW PGA Championship.
The Englishman was motoring towards the lead at seven under par when he ballooned his tee shot into the trees on the right of the 18th hole at Wentworth.
Having then hit a provisional to sit three-off-the-tee, a siren sounded to halt play due to bad weather, setting in train a peculiar chain of events.
It started when Fitzpatrick headed to the rough spot where his original shot was heading, only to be told two children had just been seen fleeing with a ball.
A tournament referee then judged he could take a penalty drop in the area upon the resumption 90 minutes later, rather than playing his provisional. It allowed the world No 29 to escape with a bogey-six instead of a likely seven.
Fitzpatrick said: ‘I made 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.’
Matt Fitzpatrick’s golf ball was at the centre of a surreal situation at Wentworth on Thursday
Explaining the broader situation, he added: ‘When the siren went, Dan (Parratt), my caddie said 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, and 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.’
Fitzpatrick’s six-under-par round of 66 was two shy of early pacesetter Ludvig Aberg, his European Ryder Cup team-mate who carded 64. The decision to pair them here might serve as a hint that Luke Donald intends to field the duo together at Bethpage Black later this month.
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Golf star Matt Fitzpatrick has ball STOLEN by ‘little thieves’ at BMW PGA Championship in bizarre incident
