Tommy Fleetwood predicts a '˜bit of a mess' as new rules kick in

Tommy Fleetwood is predicting European Tour events to be a 'mess for a few weeks' as players get to grips with golf's new rules, but the Englishman hopes to gain an advantage from the one being talked about the most.

Brooks Koepka and Henrik Stenson get to grips with the new rules for 2019. Picture: Andrew Redington/Getty Images

The Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship, won by Fleetwood for the last two years, is the first event to be staged on the circuit since the introduction of the new rules which include players now being allowed to putt with the pin in, a drop having to be taken from knee height and the time permitted for searching for a ball being cut from five to three minutes.

They came into effect on 
1 January and one player has already fallen foul of the new time code, being hit with a penalty in the UAE qualifier for this week’s Rolex Series event. European Tour card holders are being briefed on the changes by a team that includes David Rickman, the R&A’s rules guru.

“It’s going to be a bit of a mess for a few weeks whilst people are getting used to it,” said Fleetwood, the world No 14. “There’s going to be penalty shots this week, for sure. I’ve spoken to a couple of the refs and they’ve said ‘probably just ask us for everything this week’.”

Tommy Fleetwood speaks to the media in Abu Dhabi. Picture: Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images

In the first PGA Tour event under the new rules, American Bryson DeChambeau kept the pin in place most of the time in the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Hawaii and led the field in strokes gained putting. Adam Scott, a former Masters champion, has also said he plans to leave the flag in for every putt this year, even if it was a six-footer to win another major.

“It’s a difficult one,” added Fleetwood when asked his view about that particular change. “It is a little bit odd, but I think once you get your head around it, it’s not really a big deal. I don’t really have any science to it or anything like that.

“There’s lip-outs that you can have that can catch the pin that can catch friction off the pin that go in when they might have a chance of missing. But you can also hit the pin dead-centre and it can jar out. Until we’ve tried it, we won’t know.

“I think we’ll look at putts for the first two or three tournaments. It’s going to be a trial and error thing. It might be the case after one tournament, I might just take the pin out or I might say, leave it in every time.”

Fleetwood will become just the fifth player in European Tour history to win the same event three times in a row if he can prevail once more at Abu Dhabi Golf Club, the current members of that exclusive club being Ernie Els, Colin Montgomerie, Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods. “It would be nice to make it five,” he admitted, smiling.

The Southport man, who turns 28 on Saturday, the day of the final round in Abu Dhabi, shot rounds of 67-67-70-67 for a 17-under total in 2017 as he beat Dustin Johnson by a shot to claim the title. He then posted scores of 66-68-67-65 for a 22-under aggregate as he held off a chasing pack that included both Johnson and Rory McIlroy 12 months ago.

Johnson, the world No 3, and second-ranked Brooks Koepka are both in the field this week, but, having already led his team to a pro-am victory, Fleetwood again looks as though he is going to be the man to beat in the opening leg of a double-header in the UAE, with the Omega Dubai Desert Classic next week.

“This course kind of battered me for a few years but, in the last two years, I kind of tee-to-greened it to death in a way,” said the Ryder Cup player. “I’ve played so well that I’ve made very few bogeys – two last year and four the year before – and that’s ended up in me winning a couple times. But, with the rough a little bit thicker this year, it’s a slightly different test. You’ve got to be on your game.”

Johnson was certainly on his game heading into the 2017 Masters only to miss that event due to an untimely injury as he slipped on steps in his rental home in Augusta. Where does the former US Open champion feel his game is now compared to then? “Obviously it was very good at that time and I’m seeing signs of it getting back to where it was,” he said. “The swing has definitely improved over the last couple weeks. I like where my game’s at right this minute.”