The rule is absolutely ridiculous’: MacIntyre slams Wentworth pitch-mark ruling
Robert MacIntyre tied for 10th at the 2026 BMW PGA Championship after a final-round 69 at Wentworth. He called a hole-11 pitch-mark ruling ridiculous after officials denied free relief under a 2026 local rule. He closed birdie-birdie-eagle but said he lost the plot after the call.
Robert MacIntyre posted a 3-under 69 and tied for 10th at the BMW PGA Championship on Sunday. The card looked tidy. His post-round mood did not. A ruling on the 11th hole at Wentworth Club left the Scot, in his words, absolutely fizzing.
The DP World Tour flagship is a $9 million Rolex Series event on the West Course in Virginia Water. J.J. Spaun won at 17 under. MacIntyre finished at 13 under, four shots back, after scores of 68, 72, 66 and 69.
He still wanted to talk about a ball that plugged in the fairway.
“What is the point of changing the rules for a plugged ball when I have split the fairway on 11?” MacIntyre told The Scotsman’s Martin Dempster. “The ball has pitched in a pitch mark but, because the pitch mark has been deemed to have been stood on, cut or whatever it was, I didn’t get relief.”
Under Rule 16.3, free relief is allowed when a ball is embedded in the player’s own pitch mark in the general area. From Jan. 1, 2026, committees at events with live television and on-course referees can add Model Local Rule F-2. That option lets a referee grant the same drop if the ball sits below ground level in any unrepaired pitch mark made by any player’s stroke, provided the grass is cut to fairway height or less.
The repair test is the trapdoor. The R&A and USGA say a pitch mark has been “repaired in some way” if anyone has pressed it down, tried to fix it with a tee, driven over it, or run a mower across it. The quality of that repair does not matter. A visible dent can still be a no-relief lie.
DP World Tour chief referee Mark Litton later told The Scotsman it was “in our opinion a partly-repaired pitchmark,” so MacIntyre received no drop. MacIntyre said he asked for a second look. Officials still judged that the sides were not standing up, as if a foot or a buggy had already been across the mark.
He played it as it lay, missed the green, and made bogey. He said the next hole slipped as well.
“I’ve then hit from a plugged lie in the fairway over the green and dead and I made bogey and I’ve just lost the plot from there,” he said. “Yeah, I know that my attitude really, really needs to improve, but I am absolutely fizzing with the ruling.”
“The rule is absolutely ridiculous. It is all down to a referee’s decision. It looked as though it was plugged and that pitch mark could have happened this morning.”
He still finished birdie-birdie-eagle. That late burst lifted him into a five-way tie for 10th. The published payout for that share was $156,600 from the $9 million purse, as of Sept. 21, 2026. Scottish reporting put the check at about €136,423.
The 2026 local rule was meant to end the old fight over whose pitch mark it was. It moved the argument to whether the mark had already been repaired. That call still belongs to a referee on the spot.
The letter of F-2 supported the ruling. The episode also showed why a change sold as simpler still leaves players staring at a dent and waiting on a judgment.
“They need to simplify the rules,” MacIntyre told The Scotsman. “If it is in a plugmark, it’s in a plugmark.”
Official sources: The Scotsman interview, DP World Tour leaderboard, R&A 2026 Model Local Rules.
FAQ
What ruling upset Robert MacIntyre at the BMW PGA Championship? (inferred)
Officials denied free relief on the 11th fairway after his ball finished in a pitch mark they judged partly repaired. He then made bogey and said he lost the plot.
What is Model Local Rule F-2? (inferred)
It is an optional 2026 local rule for televised events with referees. It can extend embedded-ball relief to an unrepaired pitch mark made by any player, not only the player’s own mark, in fairway-height grass.
Does F-2 give relief from a plain divot? (inferred)
No. The R&A and USGA still do not authorize free relief from an ordinary divot. F-2 covers an unrepaired pitch mark when a referee finds the ball below ground level.
Where did MacIntyre finish, and who won? (inferred)
MacIntyre tied for 10th at 13 under. J.J. Spaun won the 2026 BMW PGA Championship at 17 under, two shots ahead of a four-way tie for second.
What did the chief referee say? (inferred)
Mark Litton told The Scotsman the lie was, in the officials’ opinion, a partly repaired pitch mark, so there was no relief.