Tommy Fleetwood Comes to the Rescue of PGA Tour After Rule Change at East Lake Sparked Chaos

At East Lake’s FedExCup finale, it isn’t just the prize or the trophy sparking debate; it’s mud. The PGA Tour’s decision to allow preferred lies during round 2 of the Tour Championship has reignited a familiar controversy, but Tommy Fleetwood isn’t shying away from defending it.

When asked about the muddy conditions at East Lake after the recent wet course conditions due to the weather, Fleetwood didn’t mince words. “Yeah, yeah. It would be unfair if we were playing the ball as it lies just with the softness and the mud that’s been on the ball,” he said when asked whether he’d been cleaning mud off his ball. A follow-up question made his stance even clearer: would chaos reign at East Lake without the rule? “I have a feeling it might, yeah.”

Fleetwood’s point is simple — preferred lies is not about making golf easier, it’s about keeping the sport from becoming a lottery. Mud balls can punish players who’ve hit perfect drives, sending shots off line for no reason other than the weather. For pros competing for their season’s biggest payday, Fleetwood believes fairness has to take priority.

And why won’t he believe so? During the first round of the 2025 Open Championship, Fleetwood’s tee shot in the par-4 fifth hole found a fairway bunker. When he reached the bunker, he discovered his ball in a poorly raked area. It eventually led him to make a bogey five on the hole. So yeah, the American has been in a disadvantaged position before due to such “odd rules,” and it only makes sense for him to side with the Tour’s decision on preferred lies.

This season alone has demonstrated the complexity of the issue. Fans raged when the Tour handed out preferred lies on a sunny Thursday at Torrey Pines in 2021, preparing for Friday’s rain. They’ve been just as angry in 2025 with the Tour’s frequent use of the rules. However, when the Tour doesn’t allow it, it’s the players who snap.

During the first round of the 2025 PGA Championship, the refusal to allow preferred lies became the story of the day. Heavy rains had left the fairways soft, but the PGA of America stuck with the tradition. The result came at the cost of the world’s number 1 drive. Scottie Scheffler watched his perfect drive on the 16th turn into a disaster when mud sent his approach hooking into the water for a double bogey. “I understand it’s part of the game, but there’s nothing more frustrating for a player. But I don’t make the rules. I just have to deal with the consequences of those rules,” he said at that time, as reported by Golf Digest 75.

Xander Schauffele, the defending champion, wasn’t spared either. He suffered the same fate on the same hole and didn’t hold back afterward, calling it “kind of stupid” to be punished for a fairway strike. Schauffele admitted the locker room was buzzing with similar complaints, adding that even perfect lies felt like a “50/50” gamble under the conditions.

This is the irony. Players complain when the Tour doesn’t use the rule, and fans complain when it does.

The preferred lies divide

That argument lands differently with fans. For many, golf’s identity rests on the “play it as it lies” principle. To them, handling the quirks and chaos of nature is what separates great golfers from the rest. Preferred lies, in their eyes, soften the test and strip away part of what makes golf authentic. That is why every time the Tour leans on this rule, critics brand it as a “joke” and a “loser move.”

Players, on the other hand, argue that the rule ensures fairness in poor conditions. A well-struck shot shouldn’t be ruined by mud or a plugged lie. They also point out the risks: trying to muscle a ball out of wet, unstable ground can lead to injuries. And then there’s course protection – allowing players to lift, clean, and place spares already vulnerable fairways from even more damage. As the Club Washer explains, preferred lies allow golf to stay about skill, not luck, when weathers turn ugly.

At the end of the day, the debate over preferred lies is really about what we want golf to be. The Tour will keep making judgment calls that leave one side fuming. But for Fleetwood, at least, there’s no question.