Rory McIlroy insisted he will play the remainder of the Players Championship with a clear conscience after a rules controversy also involving Jordan Spieth and Viktor Hovland threatened to derail his opening round at Sawgrass. McIlroy recovered from the affair at the 7th hole, his 16th, to post 65.
McIlroy’s tee shot at the par four bounced off a bank and into a lake. Key to what happened next was whether the ball had pitched above or below the red hazard line. McIlroy insisted he was “comfortable” that it landed above the line, allowing him to play his third shot from within range of the green.
During an eight-minute discussion, Hovland cast slight doubt by insisting it “was pretty close”. Spieth duly waded in. He said: “Everyone I’m hearing that had eyes on it – which is not what matters – is saying they are 100% certain it landed below the red line. It’s what you guys think.”
After Spieth was questioned on who his witnesses were, a volunteer correctly pointed out spectators on the other side of the fairway would find it impossible to determine where the ball pitched. The bounce of the ball from available television footage suggests McIlroy was firmly in the right but the issue will inevitably rumble on. Spieth also seemed to question McIlroy over a drop when he found water on the 18th, the group’s ninth.
“If I feel like I’ve done something wrong, it’ll play on my conscience for the rest of the tournament,” McIlroy said. “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 didn’t try to do anything wrong out there. I tried to play by the rules and do the right thing. I feel like I obviously did that with those two drops.
“I was adamant that I saw it bounce above the red line, but then when someone comes in and says: ‘Well, someone thought that it didn’t,’ then it just puts some doubt in your mind. It’s up to you to be comfortable enough with your decision that you did see what you saw. I’m comfortable. I think that’s the most important thing.”
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Spieth avoided post-round media duties by running from the scoring area into the Sawgrass clubhouse. Hovland, with only slightly less fleet of foot, did not address the matter either. McIlroy, to his credit, refused to castigate Spieth for his audible interventions.
“I think Jordan was just trying to make sure that I was doing the right thing,” McIlroy said. “I was pretty sure that my ball had crossed where I was dropping it. It’s so hard, right, because there was no TV evidence. I was adamant. But I think, again, he was just trying to make sure that I was going to do the right thing.
“If anything, I was being conservative with it. I think at the end of the day we’re all trying to protect ourselves, protect the field, as well. I wouldn’t say it was needless. I think he was just trying to make sure that what happened was the right thing.”
McIlroy’s 10 birdies allowed him to share the early lead with Xander Schauffele.
