McIlroy brushes off rules debate to share Sawgrass lead
Jordan Spieth tells Rory McIlroy that “everybody” said his ball had gone straight into the water but the Holywood star was adamant it had bounced, as the video showed.
Rory McIlroy put two balls in the water and endured some tense interactions with playing partner Jordan Spieth over his drops but still made 10 birdies in a blistering seven-under 65 to share the early lead in The Players at a defenceless TPC Sawgrass.
The world number two and 2019 champion got off to a brilliant start, covering his first eight holes in six under to lead the field by three strokes before dropping a shot after driving into the water at the 18th.
That led to a discussion with playing partners Spieth and Viktor Hovland about where the ball crossed the red line.
McIlroy made a brilliant bogey there to turn in a sensational five-under 31 and went on to birdie the second, fourth and sixth to lead Xander Schauffele by a shot on eight-under.
But there was more drama to follow.
Another pulled driver into the water at the 452-yard seventh, his 16th, led to another protracted discussion, mainly with Spieth over the correct place to drop.
The pair have had frank discussions off the course over PGA TOUR politics with McIlroy at loggerheads with the Texan, who is a member of the Players Advisory Council against allowing LIV Golf stars to return to the PGA TOUR without some sort of sanction.
Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth and Viktor Hovland discuss McIlroy's drop on No. 7.
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 14, 2024
Rory makes double bogey to move from solo leader to T2. pic.twitter.com/dkV6a5Q22W
McIlroy took a conservative drop and ran up a double bogey six after coming up short of the green in three, eventually missing a 10 footer for bogey.
The double-bogey didn’t appear to bother him and while he pulled his drive into the trees at the 606-yard ninth, he got up and down from 112 yards for birdie, rolling in a 17-footer for birdie to share the lead with Schauffele on seven-under.
Asked if the protracted discussion with Spieth over his drop on the seventh was “needless”, McIlroy said he was sure he had seen his ball bounce above the red line and took a conservative drop to avoid any doubt and bad “karma".
“Again, like I feel like I'm one of the most conscientious golfers out here, so 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 don't try to do anything wrong out there, and play by the rules and do the right thing. I feel like I obviously did that those two drops.”
There was some doubt where McIlroy’s ball crossed the red line at the 18th and also at the seventh, where where TV pictures could not clarify whether it had bounced in play before crossing the red line.
With Spieth said he was told by onlookers that the ball and gone straight in, McIlroy was adamant his ball bounced in play before crossing the line as he had the best view from the tee.
Asked if the discussion with Spieth on the seventh was “needless”, McIlroy said: “I think Jordan was just trying to do the right thing. Where I was sort of dropping it, it's so hard, right, because there was no TV evidence.
"I was adamant (it bounced above the red line). But, you know, I think again, he was just trying to make sure that I was going to do the right thing.
"And yeah, if anything, I was being conservative with it. I think at the end of the day, we're all trying to protect ourselves and the field as well.
"So I wouldn't say it was needless; I think it was just trying to make sure that what happened was the right thing.”
It was McIlroy’s lowest opening round in The Players and he was delighted to see his iron play improve after working hard to eliminate the left miss in practice this week.
“It was a little bit of everything,” he said. “I got off to a great start. Obviously my iron play was much improved compared to the last few weeks, which I've worked hard on over the last three days.
"I hit a lot of balls on Monday, did quite a bit of practice on Tuesday and Wednesday, and felt like I figured something out.
"But you never really know until you get into the heat of battle and thankfully, it was able to carry over from the range onto the golf course.”
He added: "I honestly didn't know what to expect going out today. I knew that it was much better in practice, but you never know until you get out onto the golf course.
"Seing some of the iron shots I hit straight out of the gate, I was very pleased with it. But it's just one day I need to keep at it. Keep practising, keep trying to sort of groove in the feeling that I've got. But yeah, it's a great start.”
After failing to register a top-20 finish in his first four starts on the PGA TOUR this season and finishing 14 shots behind a rampant world number one Scottie Scheffler in the Arnold Palmer Invitational on Sunday, it was just the start McIlroy needed.
He was ranked 152nd for his approach play heading into the week but ranked second after a 65 that saw him hit 15 greens in regulation.
Setting off on the back nine, there was no sign of the mediocre iron play that has dogged him on the US tour this year.
He ripped a wedge to five feet at the 10th and rolled in the putt, then two-putted for his birdie four at the 11th before reducing the 371-yard third to a 62-yard pitch and another five-foot putt.
He picked up another shot at the 14th thanks to a short iron to 15 feet before following another two-putt birdie at the par-five 16th with a birdie two from seven feet at the “island” green 17th.
He made his first mistake of the day at the dangerous 18th when he opted for a driver from the tee and pulled it into the water.
He was fortunate that it crossed the penalty area well up the fairway. He took advantage by hitting a 273-yard three-wood to the green before two-putting from 60 feet to limit the damage to just one stroke.
The mistake didn’t appear to affect him, and he went on to birdie three of his first six holes on his back nine.
After two putting the par-five second from 36 feet for his seventh birdie of the day, he hit another wedge to 10 feet at the fourth and made that for birdie before repeating the trick from 15 feet at the 382-yard sixth to move to eight-under.
The Holywood star made his second big mistake of the day at the 452-yard seventh, pulling his drive into the water. This resulted in a protracted discussion with his playing partners on the correct place to drop.
Neither the volunteer on the spot nor the TV pictures could clarify whether or not McIlroy’s ball had bounced above or below the red line.
In the end, the world number two dropped 225 yards from the green, came up just short with his third and eventually missed a 10-footer for bogey.
Scoring was low for the early starters, who took advantage of near-windless conditions and soft greens.
New Zealand’s Rayn Fox gave the fans something to cheer early in the day when he eagled the par-five 16th from three feet, then aced the 17th to become the first player to make back-to-back eagles at the Players Championship since records began in 1983.
