Rory McIlroy finished first at the Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship tied for 33rd overall, but his day could have been much better. McIlroy was assessed a two-shot penalty after correcting his lie on the 12th hole on Thursday. That dropped the title from 4-under to 2-under on the day.
The following penalty shot was taken. The camera cut to McIlroy trying to hit the ball up the steep incline to the green on the 12th hole. The first shot did not have enough juice, however, to cause the ball to roll until it was rough.
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After the ball came to rest, McIlroy can be seen using his club behind the ball to lower the grass, presumably to have a better shot on his next attempt.
The strategy worked and McIlroy made it to the green on his next shot.
While it looked like a nice recovery at the time, McIlroy was eventually hit with a two-shot penalty on the green before hitting the shot. He later addressed the scene, saying it was not “the intention” to deceive. Even the video footage is “not very good”.
A portion of this comment reads:
“Clearly nothing was intended. I play the rules. I feel this never really – I try to do everything that in these positions I can never finish. But only by seeing I see, as it is not very good. Clearly that was not intended. I just try to feel for a lie.”
McIlroy added that he didn’t feel like he was hitting the grass, but he didn’t want to think that “something was off.” Because of this, McIlroy said he was happy to take the penalty of two shots and advance to the next round.
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Eugenio Chacarra, who played alongside McIlroy on Thursday, said he did not think McIlroy deserved the penalties for his actions on the hole. Chacarra called McIlroy “the kind of guy” who “never tries to fix his lie or do anything.” But Chacarra also added that the video was “not great”.
Chacarra said he believed the incident was a “fire.” [McIlroy] Chacarra then predicted that McIlroy would “probably shoot the bottom of the day tomorrow.”
The penalty gave McIlroy a quadruple bogey on the hole. It was easily the worst hole of the day, and one in which he shot the worst part. Other than that hole, McIlroy said he played pretty well in the round.
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He will look for a better performance — and prove Chacarra right — in the second day on Friday.