‘Today’s a new day’: Rory McIlroy fights off rules controversy with 11-birdie rout | News | GOLF.com
In Thursday’s opening round at the Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship, Rory McIlroy found himself in a costly rules controversy.
He could have let the ruling, which he disputed, get the better of him. But with the Race to Dubai title on the line, McIlroy went a different route.
After he “made peace with” his unfortunate rules violation, McIlroy teed it up in Round 2 and went on a tear, firing a nine-under 63 to get within one shot of co-leaders Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hatton, two former LIV stars whose games seemed unaffected by LIV Golf’s downfall one day before.
Rory McIlroy charges but trails Jon Rahm thanks to penalty
McIlroy received a two-shot penalty after his opening round for improving his lie on the 12th hole, turning a double bogey into a quad. That turned his score from 68 to 70, leaving him far behind the early leaders after Day 1.
That might be enough to make some pros flounder in self-pity as they plummet down the leaderboard. Not so for McIlroy. His nine-under rout at Yas Links on Friday moved him to 11 under.
Of course, had he not received the penalty on Thursday, McIlroy would be leading the tournament by one shot.
So how did he fend off the bad vibes from his Thursday rules incident to nearly take control of the tournament on Friday?
In his post-round press conference Friday morning, McIlroy reiterated that he didn’t think he committed a violation on Thursday, but he also revealed that he tried hard to leave the incident at the course before heading to his hotel.
“I honestly, I guess, before I left the course, I made peace with it. I didn’t dwell on it or I didn’t feel like I did anything wrong. But then at the same time, I said the video didn’t look good, like the close-up of it,” McIlroy said on Friday. “So, again, I just never wanted the perception, people feeling like I got away with something. Yeah, I just wouldn’t want that sitting with me.”
Though the ruling cost him two crucial shots and the lead, McIlroy argued that his decision to accept the penalty fended off cheating accusations and gave him a “clear conscience” to play freely on Friday.
“So I was happy. I’d much rather be two shots worse off than be called a cheat. So that’s what I did, and I made peace with it,” McIlroy said. “At least I went out today, like it wasn’t playing on my mind. I had a clear conscience, and I could just go and play.”
Making McIlroy’s 63 more impressive is the fact that his second round started with more adversity. He was forced to take an unplayable lie, leading to an opening bogey. He responded with 11 birdies over his final 17 holes.
“Yesterday was yesterday, and today’s a new day. I had to take an unplayable at the first and made a bogey. It wasn’t like I got off to the greatest of starts today,” McIlroy said. “But then obviously I got it going. As I said last night, I felt like I’d played well enough to get back into the golf. I played well enough to feel like I could play my way back into the tournament … I went out today and played a good round of golf and did get myself back into it.”
