During Thursday’s opening round of The Players Championship, Rory McIlroy took a drop that drew some criticism.
On the par-four seventh hole at TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra, Florida, McIlroy hit his tee shot into the water. Playing partners Viktor Hovland and Jordan Spieth approached after the four-time major champion decided where he thought was the ideal place to take his drop to inquire if McIlroy was positive the drop was legal.
Whether the ball struck over the red hazard line before entering the water was the question. If it did, McIlroy would be able to make a drop at the estimated landing position. McIlroy would have had to stop much further back at the point where the ball looked to cross over into the hazard if it had rebounded below (or outside) the red line.
McIlroy was heard stating, “I think that my ball bounced above the red line, but it’s not definitive.” “I’m fairly confident that it did, but TV won’t confirm it when we try to check.”
According to Hovland, the drop seemed “very speculative.” Subsequently, Spieth informed McIlroy that every media person present during the live shot believed the ball had touched the red line.
Spieth stated, “All I’m saying is that everyone that I’m hearing that had eyes on it, which again isn’t what matters, is saying there’re 100 percent certain it landed below the line.”
Golf Channel filmed the full exchange, which lasted for about ten minutes. It is visible below:
The officials in charge of rules looked for any camera angles that would have shown where the ball bounced during the shot, but none were found. This implies that McIlroy had the last say about where to place his drop. If you take an unlawful drop, you might always be penalized, but it didn’t seem like there was much evidence in this instance.
At the moment, McIlroy was leading the competition. He proceeded to make two bogies on the hole and finish in second place.