Masters champion Rory McIlroy was hit with a two-shot penalty in the first round of the Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship.
On the 12th hole on Thursday at Yas Links, McIlroy’s approach on this par-4 missed the green after a 357-yard drive. His first chip didn’t make the putting surface and rolled back into a divot in the rough.
He was penalised for his next actions under Rule 8.1b(4) just before playing his second chip shot.
McIlroy was seen grounding his club and moving a tuft of grass behind the ball, which didn’t spring back when the club was moved away. This was judged to have improved the conditions affecting the stroke. The six-time major winner was unaware of an improvement to his lie.
The DP World Tour provided a statement to NCG:
Rule 8.1b(4) permits a player to ground their club lightly right in front of or behind the ball. “Ground the club lightly” means allowing the weight of the club to be supported by the grass on or above the ground surface and there is no penalty even if the lie is improved. However, a player is not allowed to press the club on the ground.
Having reviewed the footage, McIlroy was unable to say whether he had pressed the club on the ground or not. However, given his concern over perception of the footage, he was not comfortable proceeding without penalty. He therefore chose to apply a two-stroke penalty.
The Northern Irishman’s double-bogey became a quadruple-bogey 8 and eventually a 2-under 70. Sitting third in the Race to Dubai, he is still in hot pursuit of his fifth consecutive title and eighth in total.
Race to Dubai leader Eugenio Chacarra also shot a 70, meanwhile Patrick Reed, second in the rankings, carded a 2-over 74.
What did Rory McIlroy say after the ruling?
“They showed me a video from 12,” McIlroy said. “Hit my first chip shot from down on the bottom of the hill, got up, came back down and rolled into a divot.
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“As I went to get a feel for the lie, the close-up of the camera, you can see a little piece of grass around the divot lies down as I put my club down behind the ball – I guess the grass doesn’t return back to its original position.
“Obviously, there’s no intent. I play by the rules – I try to do everything that I can to never end up in these positions.
“But just by looking at the video – it doesn’t look very good. Obviously that wasn’t my intent. I’m just trying to get a feel for the lie. The ball is in the bottom of a sandy divot. I’m trying to feel if I can get a 54-degree onto the back of the ball, but in the process, this piece of grass has laid down.
“I guess the technical term for the rule is if you press down on the piece.
“I don’t feel like I pressed down. But at the same time, I don’t want the perception of people thinking I got away with something either. So I’m happy to take a 2-shot penalty and move into tomorrow.”
The video was reviewed by the rules committee on site, and the discussion around the ruling happened in the recording area after his round.
Rule 8.1 was also applied to Bryson DeChambeau at The Open Championship at Royal Birkdale this summer, when the American was judged to have improved the conditions affecting a stroke on the 5th hole in Southport, receiving a two-shot penalty as well.
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