Rory McIlroy hit with a brutal 2-shot penalty for this rules mistake

Rory McIlroy takes 2-shot penalty for improving his lie in first round at Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship.

McIlroy finished the first round at the Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship tied for 33rd overall, but his day could have been much better.

He was assessed a two-shot penalty after improving his lie on the 12th hole Thursday.

That dropped his score from 4-under to 2-under on the day.

The sequence that led to the penalty was captured on the broadcast.

Cameras cut in as McIlroy was trying to hit the ball up a steep incline to reach the green on the 12th hole.

His first shot didn't have enough juice, causing the ball to roll all the way back down to the rough.

Once the ball came to a stop, McIlroy can be seen using his club to push down the grass just behind the ball, presumably so he would have a better shot on his next attempt.

The tactic worked and McIlroy did manage to reach 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 for pressing down on the grass before that shot.

He addressed the issue after the round, saying there was "no intent" to cheat.

He also admitted the video footage "doesn't look very good."

A portion of his comment read: "Obviously there's no intent. 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. But just by looking at the video, like it doesn't look very good. Obviously, that wasn't my intent. I'm just trying to get a feel for the lie."

McIlroy added that he didn't feel as though he pressed down on the grass, but he didn't want people to think he "got away with something."

Because of that, McIlroy said he was happy to take the two-shot penalty and move into the next round.

Eugenio Chacarra, who played alongside McIlroy on Thursday, said he didn't think McIlroy deserved to be penalized for his actions on the hole.

Chacarra called McIlroy "a class man" who "never tries to improve his lies or do anything."

Chacarra, however, also added that video of the incident "doesn't look great."

Chacarra said he believed the incident would "fire [McIlroy] up."

Chacarra then predicted McIlroy would "probably shoot the lowest round of the day tomorrow."

The penalty gave McIlroy a quadruple bogey on the hole.

It was easily his worst hole of the day, and the only one in which he shot worse than par.

Other than that hole, McIlroy said he thought he played pretty well during the round.

The incident unfolded on the par-4 12th hole at the Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship on the DP World Tour.

McIlroy initially fared the best of the three Race to Dubai contenders in a low-scoring first round.

Now he was tied with Eugenio Chacarra on 70, while Patrick Reed shot 74.

All were far behind Francesco Laporta, who leads with a bogey-free round of 62.

The DP World Tour released an official statement addressing the ruling.

In the statement, the DP World Tour pointed to Rule 8.1b(4), which "permits a player to ground their club lightly right in front of or behind the ball."

"However, a player is not allowed to press the club on the ground," the statement said.

"Having reviewed the footage, McIlroy was unable to say whether he had pressed the club on the ground or not. However, given his concern over perception of the footage, he was not comfortable proceeding without penalty. He therefore chose to apply a two-stroke penalty."

The two-week postseason playoffs on the DP World Tour began with this event.

McIlroy is chasing a record-tying eighth season-long Race to Dubai title.

Speaking with the media after the penalty had been assessed, McIlroy explained that rules officials had shown him video of the moment on No. 12.

The six-time major champion emphasized that he was not intentionally seeking to improve his lie and was "happy" to take on the two-shot penalty.

"The ball is in a sort of bottom of a sandy divot," he continued.