Fitzpatrick says ball was stolen during weather delay at BMW PGA Championship

Matt Fitzpatrick said he believes his ball was taken by a member of the public during a thunderstorm suspension at the BMW PGA Championship, an incident that allowed him to take a penalty drop rather than play a provisional and helped him post a six-under-par 66 in the opening round at Wentworth.

The Englishman said the incident occurred on the 18th hole after he pushed his tee shot right and play was halted for more than 90 minutes because of thunder and lightning. When play resumed, Fitzpatrick said someone from the gallery had seen two young men running into the rough with a ball, which he believes was his. He was able to take a penalty drop instead of returning to his provisional ball, a move he said likely saved him at least a shot.

"Someone from the public saw two lads running into the bushes, running out with a golf ball and so they can only think it was my ball," Fitzpatrick said. "I made a bogey six, but if we'd had to find it, we probably wouldn't have. I'd then have had to play my provisional ball and it would likely have been worse. So, all in all, it was a good result. I'd have preferred rather than steal it, they'd chucked it back out on to the fairway."

Fitzpatrick finished two strokes behind playing partner Ludvig Aberg of Sweden and France's Tom Vaillant, who shared the lead at eight-under. South Africa's Casey Jarvis was one shot back on seven-under, while Fitzpatrick was among four players at six-under following a round that included eight birdies and bogeys on the ninth and 18th.

The weather-affected afternoon left about 30 players, including Europe's Ryder Cup captain Luke Donald, to complete their opening rounds on Friday morning. Sepp Straka was the only absentee from Donald's 12-man Ryder Cup squad, with Aberg among the stronger performers from the team.

Aberg, who was paired with Fitzpatrick in a nod to potential Ryder Cup pairings at Bethpage Black later this month, closed his round with three consecutive birdies, the highlight being a 50-foot putt on the 17th that helped him draw level with Vaillant at the top of the leaderboard.

"I felt like once I got on the greens, I was rolling the putter really nice and tried to be aggressive with the speed," Aberg said. "I managed to make a lot of putts, which is nice. Any time you shoot that kind of score, I think you need to be good on the greens, and that was what it was today. It's very easy to be around him [Matt] and we can chat about all sorts of things that are not even golf related. Today was one of them days where we both played pretty well. Hopefully we can do that in New York in a couple weeks' time, too."

There were mixed fortunes for other Ryder Cup contenders. Casey Jarvis ran in five consecutive birdies to reach seven-under. Rory McIlroy, fresh from victory at the Irish Open, opened with a birdie but bogeyed the fifth and found the water on the 18th to finish five shots off the pace. Justin Rose, Viktor Hovland and Shane Lowry were among an eight-man group at five-under, Lowry carding a birdie at the last after a superb approach shot.

Jon Rahm recovered from four bogeys in his opening 11 holes to finish one-under, while Tyrrell Hatton produced flashes of brilliance in a three-under 69 playing alongside Robert MacIntyre, who went round in 71. Tommy Fleetwood, who recently claimed his first PGA Tour title, managed a one-over 73 despite being paired with his friend Rose.

Rasmus Hojgaard, Europe's only rookie for the Ryder Cup in New York, recorded two double bogeys and a two-over 74 but finished the round with dramatic scoring. He birdied the 17th and eagled the 18th after an attempted chip from just off the green deflected off the flagstick and dropped into the hole.

Play at Wentworth is scheduled to continue on Friday as remaining players complete round one and subsequent groups prepare to start. The leaderboard remains tightly packed as contenders assess form and fitness ahead of one of the European Tour's most significant events ahead of the Ryder Cup.