W
hen Rory McIlroy holed out on the 18th green at the end of the
third round of the 2014 Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship,
he believed he had shot a 68. But before he left the putting
green, Ricardo Gonzalez’s caddie, Dave Renwick, told him that he thought
that Rory might have played from a wrong place on the second hole.
McIlroy’s second shot on the par-5 second hole came to rest in the
left rough short of the green. The ball was in an area that the gallery was
using to cross the hole. Because such areas incur an unusual amount of
damage from foot traffic, the PGA European Tour marks them as ground
under repair. This area was marked by a line painted on the ground.
McIlroy decided to take relief as allowed under Rule 25-1b(I)
(Abnormal Ground Conditions – Relief). Rule 25-1a defines interference
from an abnormal ground condition as occurring when the player’s lie,
stance or area of intended swing is interfered with by the condition in
question.
In taking relief from an abnormal ground condition, the player
must determine the Nearest Point Of Relief that gives him complete
relief from all interference from the area in question. Once the player
has determined his nearest point of relief, he must drop the ball within
one club-length of that point in a position that still gives him complete
relief from the abnormal ground condition.
Even once the ball has been dropped in a correct location, the
player must still ensure that it does not end up in a location where it
must be re-dropped. In McIlroy’s case, the ball came to rest in a position
where his stance was back inside the area of ground under repair. Since
Rule 25 gives the player relief for his stance, in taking relief, the player
must ensure that his stance is outside the area after he has dropped
the ball. Under Rule 25-1b, he had not taken complete relief and was
required to re-drop the ball. What’s the Ruling?
After Renwick told McIlroy of his concerns, Rory met with European
Tour Rules official John Paramor and, along with Renwick, they went
back to the second hole. The divot that Rory had created when he
made his stroke was found and it became apparent that he had not
taken complete relief. Since McIlroy did not re-drop the ball, but played
it from the location with his foot in the area of ground under repair, he
played from a wrong place. The penalty is two strokes, which changed
his score for the round to 70.
In telling McIlroy of his concerns before Rory returned his score
card, Renwick saved Rory from a potential disqualification penalty for
returning an incorrect score card, had the incident otherwise come to
light before the tournament concluded. McIlroy shot a final-round 68 the
next day to finish the tournament in a tie for second with Phil Mickelson,
one stroke behind Pablo Larrazabal of Spain.
Connecticut State Golf Association
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