Rory McIlroy assessed two-stroke penalty for improving lie, cards quadruple bogey in Abu Dhabi
Golf Channel • • sports
Key Points:
- Rory McIlroy received a two-stroke penalty at the Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship after tamping down grass behind his ball on the 12th hole, resulting in a quadruple-bogey 8 instead of a 6.
- McIlroy explained he unintentionally pressed down the grass while trying to gauge the lie of his ball in a sandy divot, emphasizing there was no intent to improve his lie and accepting the penalty.
- Despite the penalty, McIlroy posted a 2-under 70 with six birdies and no other dropped shots, placing him eight shots behind leader Francesco Laporta and tied with Eugenio Chacarra.
- Chacarra, who leads the Race to Dubai, disagreed with the penalty, stating that McIlroy did not improve his lie intentionally and described the grass as naturally flattening under club pressure.
- Chacarra expressed respect for McIlroy's integrity and predicted the penalty would motivate McIlroy to perform strongly in the following round.
