WATCH: Rory McIlroy suffers two-stroke penalty for bad drop at AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am

Rory McIlroy suffered a two-stroke penalty during Round 1 of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am as he took his drop shot from the wrong place.

WATCH: Rory McIlroy suffers two-stroke penalty for bad drop at AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am

Rory McIlroy was penalized for a bad drop (Image via X)

As the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am kicked off on Thursday, Rory McIlroy, the renowned North Irish golfer made his first start at the PGA Tour this year. The 34-year-old was previously seen in Dubai appearing at the DP World Tour events.

The return to the PGA Tour however did not bring much joy as he suffered a two-stroke penalty towards the end of the his play. McIlroy was given this penalty for a bad drop at the seventh hole.

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The current World No.2 started off strong and was two shots under when he started the par-5 seventh hole. His tee shot would sail faraway from the fairway and land under a tree. The golfer would declare his ball unplayable and took a drop.

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As McIlroy’s third shot made the fairway he would go on eventually make a bogey. Following the conclusion of the round, he was informed that he had taken an incorrect drop. This resulted his score on the seventh hole being changed from 6 to 8 leading to him finishing the day 1-under 71 instead of 3-under 69.

Rory McIlroy admits not knowing about rule change following two-stroke penalty

In a bizarre set of circumstances, Rory McIlroy went from 11th position to all the way down to tied for 39th spot following his penalization. After the end of Round 1, the four-time major champion admitted to not knowing about drop-ball rule changes.

He was deemed to have taken his drop shot about 5 yards back-on-the-line. He had taken club-length relief to the right of the reference line and hit his shot. This could have worked earlier but the rules regarding this were changed in 2023, something McIlroy did not knew.

Rory McIlroy
Rory McIlroy (Pic Credit: Imago)

Acknowledging his error, the North Irish golfer said:

I took an unplayable on 7 and I took it back online. Then unbeknownst to me, the rule changed in January 2023 where you used to be able to come back online, take a club length either side. That was changed in 2019 to be able to do that. I wasn’t aware that that rule was changed again in 2023 so I took a drop thinking of the 2019 rules... so got a two-stroke penalty there.
Rory McIlroy as per Golf.com.

Speaking off the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Belgium golfer Thomas Detry currently leads the way after Round 1 following an impressive performance that saw him finish 9-under 63. Close behind him is Patrick Cantlay who once again has started a tournament strong and is 8-under 64 for the event.

Meanwhile, French golfer Matthieu Pavon, fresh off his victory at the Farmers Insurance Open, sits third in the leaderboard while being 7-under 65. McIlroy will need to up his game on Round two if he wants to get back in the tournament.

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