Rory McIlroy was handed a two-shot penalty after his first round at the Abu Dhabi Championship on Thursday, with officials ruling he improved his lie on a hole where he made double-bogey to spoil his card.
McIlroy’s score of six at the par-4 12th hole turned into an even uglier eight and left him posting a two-under 70 to be eight shots off the lead, held by Francesco Laporta after his bogey-free round of 62.
In actions that have dented his bid to win a record-tying eighth season-long Race to Dubai title, McIlroy was seen in video footage pressing his club on grass behind his ball that had rolled back down the hill and into a divot after he duffed an attempted chip on to the green on the 12th.
“There’s no intent. I play by the rules,” said the world No 2, who spent time in the scorer’s hut after his round discussing the incident with officials. “I try to do everything that I can to never end up in these positions.”
McIlroy acknowledged video footage of the incident “doesn’t look very good.”
“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.”
In a statement, the European tour pointed to Rule 8.1b(4), which “permits a player to ground their club lightly right in front of or behind the ball.”
“However, a player is not allowed to press the club on the ground,” the statement said. “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.”
Laporta fired a bogey-free 62 featuring eight birdies and an eagle to open up a three-shot lead over Jon Rahm, Bernd Wiesberger and Sam Bairstow.
Rahm, making his tournament debut after agreeing a departure from LIV Golf last month, had not played since September following the birth of his daughter.
The 36-year-old Laporta is seeking his first European Tour win while also bidding to climb into the 50-player field for the season-ending Tour Championship next week in Dubai.
“Everything was just going like a video game, like just hitting shots straight and making some putts and just giving myself opportunities,” said Laporta. “I’m very happy about that.”
Current Race to Dubai leader Eugenio Chacarra matched McIlroy with an opening 70, while second-placed Patrick Reed struggled and finished two over par for the day.
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