Rory shares lead at Players despite 1st-rd. drama

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — World No. 2 golfer Rory McIlroy had just taken the lead at 8-under in the first round of the 50th Players Championship on Thursday when he pulled his driver left on the par-4 seventh hole, his 16th hole of the round at TPC Sawgrass.

McIlroy’s ball crossed a hazard and kicked into the water. From the tee, McIlroy was certain that he saw his ball hit above the red line. Norway’s Viktor Hovland and Jordan Spieth, who were playing with McIlroy, didn’t seem so sure.

It made for a rather uncomfortable moment in what was a comfortable round for McIlroy, who tied a Players Championship record with 10 birdies in a round. He carded a 7-under 65 to grab a share of the lead with Xander Schauffele after the early wave.

“It would have been nice to shoot 62 and not hit two in the water,” McIlroy said.

The seventh hole is a blind spot on the course, and TV replays didn’t capture McIlroy’s tee shot landing behind the bunker. If the ball hit above the red hazard line, McIlroy was permitted to take a drop at that spot. If the ball hit below it, however, he would have to go much further back to drop and hit his third shot.

After the round, McIlroy insisted that he saw his ball hit above the red line on No. 7. He ended up making a double bogey. McIlroy had a similar situation when he hit his tee shot into the water on No. 18, his ninth hole.

“It was just a matter of whether it was above the line or below, and I thought I saw it pitch above the line [on No. 7],” McIlroy said. “[No.] 18 was a pretty similar situation. Again, adamant it crossed, it’s just a matter of where it crosses. I think this golf course more than any other, it sort of produces those situations a little bit.”

A birdie at the last to tie the lead.
@McIlroyRory is the fifth player to make 10 birdies in a round @THEPLAYERS. pic.twitter.com/n2nVsFGS1N

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 14, 2024

Hovland and Spieth declined to comment after their rounds. Hovland made a double bogey on the last hole to card a 1-over 73; Spieth posted a 2-over 74 with four birdies and six bogeys.

The golfers’ conversation on the seventh fairway lasted about 10 minutes.

“I think Jordan was just trying to make sure that I was doing the right thing,” McIlroy said. “I mean, I was pretty sure that my ball had crossed where I was sort of dropping it. It’s so hard, right, because there was no TV evidence. I was adamant. But I think, again, he was just trying to make sure that I was going to do the right thing.”

After looking for his ball in the water and not finding it, McIlroy and his caddie, Harry Diamond, walked back to the spot where they believed his ball had landed.

Hovland walked across the fairway with his hand in his pockets and told McIlroy, “We don’t know for sure that it crossed the line.”

“I’m pretty comfortable saying that it did — that it landed above the red line,” McIlroy said.

“I thought it was really close,” Hovland said. “I can’t say either way.”

Then Spieth walked across the fairway and chimed in. Members of the TV crew had apparently told him that McIlroy’s ball hit below the line.

“Everyone that I’m hearing that had eyes on it, which is again not what matters, is saying they’re 100% certain it landed below the line,” Spieth said. “That’s all I’m saying.”

By that time, a PGA Tour rules official arrived. McIlroy asked him to check with the TV broadcast, but he was told there were no video available. McIlroy took a drop at the spot. He couldn’t get up and down, settling for a double-bogey 6. He bounced back with a birdie on the par-5 ninth.

“I feel like I’m one of the most conscientious golfers out here, so if I feel like I’ve done something wrong, it’ll play on my conscience for the rest of the tournament,” McIlroy said. “I’m a big believer in karma, and if you do something wrong, I feel like it’s going to come around and bite you at some point.

“I obviously don’t try to do anything wrong out there and play by the rules and do the right thing. I feel like I obviously did that [on] those two drops.”

Schauffele’s bogey-free round of 7-under 65 was much more uneventful. He started on the back nine and made the turn at 3 under 33. Then he posted birdies on Nos. 1, 2 and 3 and another one on the par-four fifth.

Schauffele ran into trouble on the seventh hole after hitting his tee shot into the trees to the right. He was 163 yards from the hole and surrounded by limbs. His ball was sitting down and there was one opening-straight up.

After telling his caddie, Austin Kaiser, that he could live with attempting a “hero shot,” Schauffele took a full swing and hit a high sweeping shot across a bunker and water. His ball landed in the fairway short of the green, and he chipped to 4½ feet and made par.

“It was over everything, but it was just like a window that was pretty high up,” Schauffele said. “I would not want to hit the shot again.”