Matt Fitzpatrick's dreams of hitting a $25 million jackpot were dashed when he was forced to play with a cracked driver at the BMW Championship, a ruling he aptly termed an 'absolute joke' and 'outrageous.'

Finishing tied for 28th, Fitzpatrick not only suffered the indignity of playing with a driver that sent his shots flying about 50 yards shorter than normal, but he also fell short of qualifying for the lucrative Tour Championship. PGA officials deemed the crack in his driver head insufficient for a replacement, much to the chagrin of Fitzpatrick and critics like Kevin Kisner, who suggested he drive the point home—pun intended—by showcasing the defect in-game. While the PGA Tour chief referee may have a different perspective on 'significant damage,' this ruling certainly left Fitzpatrick feeling significantly robbed.

In a world where drivers often get swapped out like their owners switch golf shoes, Fitzpatrick found himself in quite the pickle. Instead of silently canning a defective club on the way to glory and riches, he stood at the mercy of officials who decided that a cracked driver was merely a cosmetic issue, that the damage threshold had not been met. One can imagine the conversation in the officials' room: 'Is it cracked enough?' 'Nah, I think it's just a beauty mark.'

Fitzpatrick, perhaps imagining his future paychecks piling up like a stack of golf bags at a charity tournament, vocally expressed his disdain for this ruling. 'Absolute joke!' he remarked. And it's hard not to sympathize; when every shot counts, a driver that hinders performance is akin to having a parachute drag you down during a skydive, all while the thrill of $25 million floats enticingly nearby. Meanwhile, the crack in the driver did not just rob him of distance, but also of a chance to participate in an extraordinary financial showdown.

The PGA's stance, led by chief referee Stephen Cox, echoed through the trees like a well-struck iron—'the damage threshold for switching clubs was not met.' What this means in layman's terms: the crack, though palpable to the touch and exasperating to the player, didn’t qualify as a bona fide emergency. Imagine if we applied similar logic to other situations: a car with a flat tire on the freeway still qualifies for a road trip, right? No significant damage, just keep driving, my friend.

Kevin Kisner, seizing the moment and the microphone, was vocal in his criticism during the broadcast. He labeled the ruling as 'terrible', clearly not having the same perspective as the PGA officials who, one might assume, have a different relationship with the word 'significant'. Kisner even proposed the idea of Fitzpatrick demonstrating the defect on a tee, likely drawing both sympathetic laughs from golf fans and exasperated shakes of his head from the referees.

Ultimately, Fitzpatrick’s performance at the BMW Championship saw him tied for 28th, a finish that feels less like a triumph and more like receiving consolation pizza after a party you weren’t invited to. As he packed his bags and headed for the exit, he also bid farewell to an opportunity to boost his FedEx Cup standings, finishing a rather unimpressive 40th overall. All this paints a less than rosy picture for Fitzpatrick's season, a year that started with high hopes.

Missing out on the Tour Championship means missing out not just on the prestige of competing against top talents, but also potentially walking away with $25 million. That's right, Fitzpatrick was left watching from the sidelines, likely eyeing the $25 million purse with the same longing gaze reserved for dessert after a disappointing meal. The stakes were high, yet his driver was held together with little more than misplaced hope and a smattering of PGA regulations.

In the grand scheme of golf, where precision is key and every inch matters, the tale of Matt Fitzpatrick and his cracked driver during the BMW Championship serves as a reminder that sometimes the system may fail to ensure fair play. Fitzpatrick described the ruling regarding his inability to switch out the cracked driver as an 'absolute joke' and 'outrageous.' PGA Tour officials deemed the crack not significant enough to warrant a replacement, even though it affected his shot distance. In the end, it's about ensuring your equipment is as undamaged as your dreams of grandeur.