PGA Tour urged to make rule change after what Matt Fitzpatrick was seen doing at Memorial

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Matt Fitzpatrick was involved in an incident on day three at The Memorial which had one commentator urging the PGA Tour to make a rule change.

Fitzpatrick has struggled with his game at The Memorial this week and at the time of writing, he is sitting in a tie for 32nd on three-over par.

However, the Englishman has enjoyed a wonderful season on the PGA Tour so far.

Matt Fitzpatrick has won three times already on the PGA Tour in 2026 and he has climbed to number four in the world rankings.

However, Fitzpatrick’s fine form slowed down at the Truist Championship when he was forced into changing drivers just before the event started.

And his recent poor form has continued at The Memorial Tournament this week.

PGA Tour urged to make rule change after what Matt Fitzpatrick did at Memorial

Fitzpatrick was called out for his slow play near the end of his third round at Muirfield Village on Saturday.

The Englishman took an absolute age to line up his birdie putt on the par-five 15th hole during his third round.

And Sky Sports commentator Jay Townsend took issue with Fitzpatrick’s slow play.

“He’s certainly taking a lot of time,“ Townsend fumed.

“It comes back what I was saying yesterday. You shouldn’t be able to mark it again (after replacing your ball on the green).

“You know, like lift clean and place. When you put the ball down, take your hand off, it’s in play.

“This is just too slow. They’re playing within the rules, okay.

“I’m just saying that when, you know, every four years they come out with updated rules and stuff, they need to take that away.”

PGA Tour ‘re-marking’ on the green rule change would make sense

Townsend’s suggestion actually makes sense. Once a player replaces their ball on the green after marking it, they should not be allowed to re-mark and go through their reading routine again.

Players taking an age to line up their putts is one of the main causes of slow play on the PGA Tour.

Interestingly, Fitzpatrick was criticized heavily after his slow play at the RBC Heritage back in April.

So his pace of play is clearly something he needs to work on moving forward.

Hopefully the PGA Tour takes Jay Townsend’s suggestion on board and change the rule regarding re-marking balls on the green moving forward.

I truly believe it would make a huge difference to the pace of play.