McIlroy handed two-shot penalty for improving lie during first round at Abu Dhabi Championship
Rory McIlroy was given a two-shot penalty after his opening round at the Abu Dhabi Championship on Thursday when officials ruled he had improved his lie on the par-4 12th hole, a ruling that turned a six into an eight and left him with a two-under 70, eight shots behind the leader. Video footage of the incident prompted a review and McIlroy spent time in the scorer’s hut after his round discussing the matter with officials.
The incident occurred after McIlroy duffed an attempted chip onto the 12th green and his ball rolled back down the hill into a sandy divot; footage showed him pressing his club on grass behind the ball. The world No 2 said afterwards, “There’s no intent. I play by the rules,” and added, “I try to do everything that I can to never end up in these positions.” He also acknowledged the tape “doesn’t look very good.”
The European Tour cited Rule 8.1b(4) in a statement, noting the rule “permits a player to ground their club lightly right in front of or behind the ball.” It added: “However, a player is not allowed to press the club on the ground.” The statement continued: “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.”
McIlroy addressed the specifics of his actions in further comments: “I’m just trying to get a feel for the lie,” he said. “The ball is in a sort of bottom of a sandy divot. I guess the technical term for the rule is if you press down on the piece (of grass). I don’t feel like I pressed down. But at the same time, I don’t want the perception of, like, people thinking like I got away with something, either. So I’m happy to take a two-shot penalty and move on and move into tomorrow.”
Francesco Laporta led the field after the first round with a bogey-free 62 that included eight birdies and an eagle, putting him three shots clear of Jon Rahm, Bernd Wiesberger and Sam Bairstow. Rahm was making his tournament debut after agreeing a departure from LIV Golf last month and had not played since September following the birth of his daughter.
Current Race to Dubai leader Eugenio Chacarra matched McIlroy with an opening 70, while Patrick Reed finished two over par for the day. Laporta, 36, said of his round: “Everything was just going like a video game, like just hitting shots straight and making some putts and just giving myself opportunities. I’m very happy about that.”
Laporta is seeking his first European Tour win and is also bidding to climb into the 50-player field for the season-ending Tour Championship next week in Dubai.