Sheffield’s Matt Fitzpatrick has doubled down on the decision to penalise Collin Morikawa at last weekend’s Hero World Challenge.
Morikawa dropped from -10 to -8 before he began his final round at Albany Golf Club in the Bahamas, following intervention from playing partner Fitzpatrick.
One-time Major winner Fitzpatrick explained Morikawa’s caddie, Jonathan Jakovac, used a device while on the practice green before the American’s third round to calculate slope.
Mr Jakovac then breached R&A Model Local Rule G-11 by recording this information in his yardage book. Chief referee Stephen Cox was made aware of the incident after the Sheffielder asked him for rule clarity.
According to GolfMonthly, Fitzpatrick said: “It’s nothing personal. Whether it was Tiger [Woods] or whoever, it’s just I wanted to know because I have wanted to use AimPoint [a putting statistics technique] earlier this year.”
Fitzpatrick finished tied for fourth at Albany on -15, with Morikawa seventh on -12. Fellow American Scottie Scheffler took victory in the Bahamas, finishing on -20.
The tournament built on a strong year for the Sheffielder. Fitzpatrick won the RBC Heritage back in April along with the coveted Alfred Dunhill Links Championship at St Andrews in October.
He was also part of Luke Donald’s European team who regained the Ryder Cup at the end of September.
