Rory McIlroy insisted that he did not break the rules after his initial round at the Players Championship turned into a debate over the rules due to a long discussion with his playing partners.
McIlroy made a strong comeback on Thursday at TPC Sawgrass, shooting a seven-under-par 65 to tie for the lead with Xander Schauffele and Wyndham Clark in the $25million event.
However, attention turned to his round when, on the seventh hole – his 16th of the day – the Northern Irishman hit the water with an inaccurate tee shot.
After his ball bounced off a bank and into the lake, McIlroy was certain that it had landed inside the hazard line, allowing him to take his penalty drop from the rough instead of needing to hit another tee shot.
Doubts arose from playing partners Viktor Hovland and Jordan Spieth, with Spieth in particular suggesting that onlookers from the other side of the fairway had not seen the ball bounce above the red hazard line.
With no TV replays in one of the course’s few blind spots, McIlroy eventually took his drop from the rough and stated after the round that he was confident in the way he handled the issue, as well as an earlier incident when he found the water on the 18th, his ninth of the day.
‘I feel like I’m one of the most conscientious golfers out here, so if I feel like I’ve done something wrong, it’ll play on my conscience for the rest of the tournament,’ the 34-year-old said after his round.
‘I’m a big believer in karma and if you do something wrong, I feel like it’s going to come around and bite you at some point. I obviously don’t try to do anything wrong out there and play by the rules and do the right thing.’
Neither Spieth nor Hovland chose to speak to the media after the round, but McIlroy remained firm that all three in the group were content with the eventual action taken.
‘I was comfortable, and I was just making sure that Jordan and Viktor were comfortable, too,’ he added.
‘I think Jordan [Spieth] was just trying to make sure that I was doing the right thing. I was pretty sure that my ball had crossed where I was sort of dropping it. It’s so hard, right, because there was no TV evidence.
‘If anything I was being conservative with it. I think at the end of the day we’re all trying to protect ourselves, and protect the field, as well.’
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