Rory McIlroy suffered a bizarre two-shot penalty at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am
The world No 2 carded two bogeys and a double bogey at the end of his round
The Northern Irishman admitted that he didn’t know the rule had changed
Rory McIlroy endured a nightmare ending to his opening round at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am after the world No 2 was handed a two-shot penalty for an improper drop.
The Northern Irishman admitted on Thursday afternoon that he wasn’t aware the rules had changed after he had been informed of the penalty in the scoring tent after signing his card.
McIlroy had started his round in fine form, taking the lead after 10 holes hitting six birdies, before carding two bogeys and a double bogey to wrap up his day at one-under par, eight shots off the leader Thomas Detry.
After teeing off at the seventh hole at Spyglass Hill, the four-time major winner found himself stuck behind a tree.
McIlroy ultimately opted to take a drop after declaring that his ball was unplayable and was seen on the PGA Tour’s coverage of the event calculating a refrence line back from the hole.
He was subsequently penalised for an incorrect ball placement under Rule 19.2b of the USGA’s laws on an unplayable ball after he had taken relief to the right of his club-length referegnce line. If McIlroy had hit dropped his ball within this line, he would have not incurred the penalty.
So I took an unplayable on 7 and I took it back online,’ McIlroy said to reporters after the round. ‘Then unbeknownst to me the rule changed in January 2023 where you used to be able to come back online, take a club length either side.
USGA Rules on relief on unplayable balls
Rule 19.2(b) Relief Options for Unplayable Ball in General Area or on Putting Green
The player may drop the original ball or another ball (see Rule 14.3) behind the spot of the original ball, keeping the spot of the original ball between the hole and the spot where the ball is dropped (with no limit as to how far back the ball may be dropped). The spot on the line where the ball first touches the ground when dropped creates a relief area that is one club-length in any direction from that point, but with these limits:
Limits on Location of Relief Area:
Must not be nearer the hole than the spot of the orignal ball, and
May be in any area of the course, but
Must be in the same area of the course that the ball first touched when dropped
That was changed in 2019 to be able to do that. I wasn’t aware that that rule was changed again in 2023, so I took a drop thinking of the 2019 rules when everything was sort of changed not knowing that the rule was changed again in 2023, so got a two-stroke penalty there.
Explaining the decision, rules official Stephen Cox stated that the error had been spotted by one of the USGA’s video review officials and that under pre-2023 rules, McIlroy’s drop would have been permitted.
‘Well, it came to light through our video review group that by the fact that he took a club length out measuring that he may have not proceeded correctly under back-on-the-line relief.
Despite the nightmare finish to his round, McIlroy delivered a mostly positive assessment of his game.
‘I feel like my game’s in really good shape,’ the Northern Irishman said. ‘I’m hitting it well, feel comfortable around the greens, on the greens. Yeah, game feels in good shape. It was just one of those — I just let it — I had a really score and then just sort of let it get away from me those last few holes.
‘I played really well for the first 14 holes and then obviously had a bit of a bad finish there. But for the most of it I hit the ball pretty well. There’s a lot of good stuff in there. Had that run of holes on 6, 7 and 8, but I mean apart from that, I actually played very well.’
Detry currently leads the way at the tournament in California on -9 having enjoyed a fantastic start hitting 10 birdies and one bogey. Patrick Cantlay and Matthieu Pavon follow close behind on -8 and -7 respectively.
