McIlroy forgot to update golf rules

America Not remembering the rule change, Northern Ireland golfer Rory McIlroy took relief following the instructions in 2019 and was penalized two strokes at the Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

Rory McIlroy talks with the referee during round 1 of the Pebble Beach Pro-Am at Spyglass Hill, California on February 1. Photo: AFP — Rory McIlroy talks with the referee during round 1 of the Pebble Beach Pro-Am at Spyglass Hill, California on February 1. Photo: *AFP*

The current rules of golf, which come into effect in January 2023, include new guidelines for how to get relief from a ball that cannot be played again. McIlroy ran into this problem while playing on the par-5 seventh hole at Spyglass Hill in the first round of a PGA Tour event in California on February 1.

On that hole, McIlroy hit into a thicket of pine trees on the left side of the fairway. After deciding he couldn’t swing his second shot, the former world number one accepted a one-stroke penalty to move the ball to a new location. In that decision, he determined that a line from the flag to the existing spot would be the reference point for the drop zone.

With that done, McIlroy took a few steps back and used his driver to measure the “freedom zone,” drawing it perpendicularly from the reference line to the right and then hitting from there. But McIlroy had broken the procedure. The latest version of the Rules of Golf requires that the ball be dropped on the reference line and that after dropping it, it be allowed to roll within the confines of a driver in any direction. In fact, McIlroy had broken the prerequisite.

McIlroy forgot to update golf rules — McIlroy measured the ball incorrectly.

After finishing round 1, McIlroy was given a two-stroke penalty by the referee for dropping the ball in the wrong place at hole 7, changing his score from bogey to triple bogey.

"I didn't know the rules of golf changed in 2023, so I dropped the ball according to the instructions from 2019," McIlroy admitted after the opening round of the 2024 Pebble Beach Pro-Am. In this match, due to a triple bogey on hole 7, he only scored -1, thereby finishing T39. The leading position belongs to Thomas Detry at -9.

The tournament alternates between Spyglass Hill and Pebble Beach Golf Links for the first two rounds, with Pebble Beach being the only course played at the latter two rounds.

This year's Pebble Beach Pro-Am has been upgraded to a special status on the PGA Tour, thanks to which the prize fund has reached 20 million USD, of which 3.6 million USD goes to the champion.

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