In Thursday’s opening round at the Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship, Rory McIlroy found itself in a costly rules controversy.
He could have let the judgment he is contesting prevail. But with the Race to Dubai title on the line, McIlroy took a different route.
After “making peace with” his unfortunate rules violation, McIlroy discovered it in Round 2 and went on a tear, shooting a nine-under 63 to move within a shot of the co-leader. Jon Rahm and Tyrrell Hattontwo former LIV stars whose games didn’t seem affected The fall of LIV Golf a day earlier.
Rory McIlroy charges but trails Jon Rahm thanks to the penalty
McIlroy received a two-stroke penalty after his first round to improve his lie on the 12th hole, turning a double bogey into a quad. This changed his score from 68 to 70, leaving him well behind the leaders after Day 1.
That might be enough to make some pros wallow in self-pity as they slide down the leaderboard. Not so for McIlroy. His nine-under route at Yas Links on Friday moved it to 11 under.
Of course, had he not received the penalty on Thursday, McIlroy would have led the tournament by one stroke.
So how did he deal with the bad vibes from his Thursday rules incident to almost take control of the tournament on Friday?
In his post-round press conference on Friday afternoon, McIlroy reiterated that he did not think he committed a foul on Thursday, but also revealed that he tried hard to leave the incident at the course before heading to his hotel.
“Honestly, I guess, before I left the course, I made peace with it. I didn’t dwell or I didn’t feel that I did anything wrong. But then at the same time, I said that the video didn’t look good, like the close-up of it,” said McIlroy on Friday. “Then again, I never wanted the perception, people feel like I ran away from something. Yes, I don’t want you to stay with me.”
Although the ruling cost him two crucial shots and the lead, McIlroy argued that his decision to accept the penalty removed accusations of cheating and gave him “a clear conscience” to play freely on Friday.
“So I was happy. I’d rather be two shots worse than be called a cheater. So that’s what I did, and I made peace with it,” said McIlroy. “At least I went out today, like I wasn’t playing in my mind. I had a clear conscience, and I could just go play.”
Making McIlroy’s 63 more impressive is the fact that his second round began with more adversity. He was forced to take an unplayable lie, leading to an opening bogey. He responded with 11 birdies over his last 17 holes.
“Yesterday was yesterday, and today is a new day. I had to take an unplayable at the first and made a bogey. It wasn’t like I had the greatest of starts today,” said McIlroy. “But then obviously I did. Like I said last night, I felt like I played well enough to get back into 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 got back into it.”