Rory McIlroy hit with 2-shot penalty for improving lie on video

Rory McIlroy was assessed a two-shot penalty after video showed him improving his lie during the first round of the Abu Dhabi Championship on Thursday.

The penalty turned his 4-under 68 into a 2-under 70.

That left him eight shots off the lead.

The incident happened on the par-4 12th hole.

McIlroy found the fairway off the tee and had 113 yards to the flag.

He airmailed the green with his approach shot.

His ball came to rest in the rough just beyond the green.

From there, he tried to chip it close.

His chip shot came up short of the putting surface.

The ball then rolled back down the hill and stopped at his feet.

It ended up in the divot he had just made.

That left him with his fourth shot on the hole.

During his pre-shot routine, McIlroy placed his wedge behind the ball.

A close-up video showed a tuft of grass being pressed down and not returning to its original position.

That is a violation of Rule 8.1 of the Rules of Golf.

Rule 8.1 prohibits players from improving their lie, area of intended stance or area of intended swing.

Rule 8.1b specifically bans moving, bending or breaking any growing or attached natural object, including grass.

The rule directly calls out pressing the club on the ground to affect one’s lie.

McIlroy made a double-bogey 6 on the hole before the penalty.

After the two-shot penalty was added, his score on the hole became a quadruple-bogey 8.

He learned about the penalty after the round, during a consultation with rules officials in the scorer’s tent.

McIlroy spoke to the media after the penalty had been assessed.

He said the rules officials showed him the video of the 12th hole.

He emphasized that he did not intentionally try to improve his lie.

“Obviously there’s no intent,” McIlroy said, according to Golf Channel.

“I play by the rules. I feel like this is never really — I try to do everything that I can to never end up in these positions.”

He acknowledged that the video evidence did not work in his favor.

“But just by looking at the video, like it doesn’t look — it doesn’t look very good,” McIlroy said.

“Obviously, that wasn’t my intent.”

He explained what he was trying to do during his pre-shot routine.

“The ball is in a sort of bottom of a sandy divot,” McIlroy said.

“I’m trying to feel like if I can get a 54-degree, like, onto the back of the ball, but in the process, this piece of grass has sort of laid down, and it doesn’t — you know, the technical — I guess the technical term for the rule is if you press down on the piece.”

He said he was “happy” to accept the penalty and move on.

“I’m happy to take a two-shot penalty and move on and move into tomorrow,” McIlroy said.

This is not the first time McIlroy has been involved in a rules controversy this year.

During the third round of The Open Championship this summer, Bryson DeChambeau was assessed a two-shot penalty for stomping around the area near his golf ball.

Rules officials determined that DeChambeau had improved the line for his backswing.

McIlroy did not hold back when asked about that incident.

“I won’t pretend to be up here and defend Bryson,” McIlroy said at the time.

“I’m not particularly fond of him. I think a lot of it is performative. I think a lot of it’s for attention.”

He also criticized DeChambeau for slowing down play.

“To hold the tournament hostage like that and to have all of us — players, volunteers, everyone — waiting on him to depart, I didn’t feel like it was a great look,” McIlroy said.

DeChambeau finished T-14 at The Open.

McIlroy finished T-40.

McIlroy came into this week’s Abu Dhabi Championship trying to overtake Eugenio Chacarra in the Race to Dubai rankings.

His round on Thursday featured six birdies.

The only blemish was the 12th hole.

He was at 3 under after a birdie on the 11th hole before the trouble started.

McIlroy said he did not realize he had pressed the grass down until officials showed him the video.

“Yeah, they showed me a video from 12,” McIlroy said in his post-round press conference.

“Hit my first chip shot from down on the bottom of the hill, then get up, came back down and rolled into a divot. And then as I went to sort of just get a feel for the lie, the close-up of the camera, you can see like a little piece of grass around the divot sort of lies down as I put my club down behind the ball, and it doesn’t — I guess the grass doesn’t return back to its original position.”

The incident has drawn attention because of McIlroy’s strong comments about DeChambeau earlier this year.

McIlroy is a six-time major champion.

He is one of the most prominent figures in professional golf.

The Abu Dhabi Championship is part of the DP World Tour.

The tournament is being held at the Abu Dhabi Golf Club.

The 2026 event is the first edition of the tournament under its new title sponsor, Aldar.

McIlroy will play the second round on Friday.

He will need a strong performance to make up the eight-shot deficit.

The Race to Dubai standings will be affected by his result this week.

McIlroy has won the Race to Dubai multiple times in his career.

The DP World Tour season is nearing its conclusion.

This incident adds another chapter to McIlroy’s complicated relationship with the rules of golf.

The video of the 12th hole continues to circulate online.

Golf fans and analysts are debating whether the penalty was justified.

Some argue that McIlroy’s action was unintentional and that the penalty was too harsh.