ABU DHABI // Welcome to Abu Dhabi. Hope you brought your rule book.
For the fourth time in four years, a high-profile player was assessed a cringe-inducing penalty that fast became the talk of the tournament at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship on Saturday.
This time, the ruling not only let the air out of Rory McIlroy’s otherwise sterling round, it ruined a marquee final pairing.
After finishing with a birdie on the 18th for what he believed was a four-under 68 that would have put him in today’s final threesome with world No 5 Phil Mickelson and within a stroke of leader Craig Lee, McIlroy was thrown completely off stride.
Fittingly enough, it was a matter relating to his stance.
Dave Renwick, the veteran caddie of McIlroy’s pairing partner, Ricardo Gonzalez, advised the Northern Irishman not to sign his scorecard and to seek out a rules official as they exited the final green. As it turned out, McIlroy had unwittingly violated a rule on the second hole and was docked two shots.
“There are a lot of stupid rules in golf,” McIlroy said, “and this is one of them.”
When his second shot on the second hole came to rest in a spectator crossing, McIlroy took a permitted free drop but did not take full relief from the area, as required by the rules.
While a video review was inconclusive, McIlroy hopped in a golf cart and revisited the scene with referee John Paramor. When they located his old divot in the grass and recreated his stance as he hit the shot, McIlroy realised he had broken the rule.
McIlroy’s left foot was still on the chalk line marking the crossing walkway, technically deemed ground under repair. Worse, when he took the free drop, the ball came to rest in an awful lie and he failed to make a birdie on the par-5 hole.
“It’s disappointing because I didn’t gain any advantage by my foot being on a bit of white paint,” said McIlroy, who fell three shots off the lead and into a tie for fourth place.
It took more than an hour to sort through the issue, including 45 minutes spent in a room with rules officials, the players and both caddies. Finally, McIlroy signed for a 70 that put him in the penultimate group with Spaniards Miguel Angel Jimenez and Pablo Larrazabal.
Worse, McIlroy had hit 17 greens in regulation and had no bogeys on the card.
Renwick said that by the time he saw McIlroy’s foot on the line, he had hit the shot, so he waited until after the round to tell him of the possible rules issue, so that the news did not weigh on the 24 year old during the final 16 holes.
McIlroy, seeking to become the first player to win all three European Tour events in the UAE, said he would work out his frustrations somehow.
“I am going to go hit the gym so hard, for about an hour, and try to run myself into the ground,” he said.
He sounded like he might run the field into the turf today, too. Nothing like a little added venom.
“It gives me a little extra motivation,” he said.
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Rory McIlroy is not the first player to be penalised at the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship, and neither is it his first transgression. Here are other incidents from tournament history.
2013 – Tiger Woods
The main attraction drew headlines for a two-stroke penalty when he was punished for an incorrect drop on the fifth hole of his second round. Woods, above, had put his tee shot into vegetation to the right of the fairway and asked Martin Kaymer, his playing partner, to confirm it was a plugged lie. Woods was told six holes later that it was not plugged, a ruling that was not confirmed until he finished his round. Having shot what he thought was a one-over 73, Woods was docked the shots and missed the cut by a stroke.
2012 – Rory McIlroy
Sharing the lead midway through the second round, McIlroy drew a two-shot penalty when he brushed away sand from behind his ball on the ninth green. Luke Donald, his playing partner, pointed out the infringement and a referee was called to determine the punishment. McIlroy “twigged right away” and blamed a lack of concentration. He lost out on the title by one stroke.
2011 – Padraig Harrington
Harrington was disqualified prior to second round after a viewer emailed the European Tour to say the Irishman had illegally moved his ball on Thursday. Having replaced his ball on the green, his hand brushed the ball while moving his marker. The ball was not replaced and Harrington drew a two-stroke penalty that was not reflected on his scorecard. He had been a shot off the lead.