Players are able to move their ball six inches when in the fairway as a result of the heavy deluge of rain in Surrey this week.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Fitzpatrick was therefore able to move his ball and give himself a better lie.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But things sadly took a turn for the worse from there.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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As the camera panned to Fitzpatrick, he called in a rules official after deeming his ball had moved while addressing it.\u00a0<\/p>\n
After a brief chat with the official, Fitzpatrick, to his credit, called the one-stroke penalty on himself.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Matt placed his club behind the ball, which then moved,” a DP World Tour spokesperson confirmed to GolfMagic.\u00a0<\/p>\n
“He called the penalty on himself.”<\/p>\n
The situation appeared to affect Fitzpatrick who then flung his second shot to the right of the green in the rough.<\/p>\n
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To his credit he chipped up to a couple of feet to make his par.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"Fitzpatrick](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/fitzpen1.jpg\")
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Fitzpatrick received a one-shot penalty<\/p>\n
The exact same thing happened to Jon Rahm while addressing his ball in the 13th fairway during the first round.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Thankfully for Fitzpatrick, he instantly got the shot back when stiffing a mid-iron to within a foot for a kick-in birdie on the par-3 5th.<\/p>\n
But he’s since fallen back into the pack after enduring some tough afternoon conditions.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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It’s been a manic week of golf ball drama for Fitzpatrick over the first 36 holes at the BMW PGA.<\/p>\n
Fitzpatrick claimed after the first round that his ball was stolen by two ‘little thieves’<\/a> on the 18th.\u00a0<\/p>\n He did say though that the incident likely saved him a shot.\u00a0<\/p>\n