Despite being embroiled in a rules controversy, Rory McIlroy has found himself in a great spot after the end of the opening round at The Players Championship. He sits comfortably tied for second rank before the second round on Friday. When the Northern Irishman was teeing off on the seventh hole, he shot the ball off the bank into a lake. Soon after that, the four-time major champion was involved in an eight-minute discussion with his playing partners, Viktor Hovland and Jordan Spieth.
However, after McIlroy requested a rules official to look into the matter, the golfer was informed that there was no conclusive evidence to prove his ball was inside the red hazard line. Eventually, he shot a double bogey on that particular seventh hole.
But it was not the first time this year when Rory McIlroy has got himself in trouble near water. Even at the Cognizant Classic, he sank a ball near water on the 16th hole. After which, he had to take off his right shoe and socks to hit the shot. Later on, the Northern Irishman again found his ball near the water on the par-5 6th hole at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.
The four-time major champion is pretty well placed on tied second rank at The Players Championship on Thursday. He has shot a blistering round of seven under 65 and will be hoping to capitalize on the same in the upcoming second round.
Rory McIlroy Is Pretty Confident Of His Driver Game At The Players Championship
After completing his opening rounds play, the Northern Irishman spoke in a post-round interview. He stated that if he had a decent final round at last week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational, he would have taken some time off on Monday. Since that was not the case at Bay Hills, he had to work harder at TPC Sawgrass before The Players Championship.
“Say I had a decent day on Sunday at Bay Hill and shot 70, for sure I would have taken Monday off here.But because of not shooting a decent score, I grinded on the range and figured something out and put the time in, and it’s sort of already reaping benefits, so that’s nice,” McIlroy said.
Rory McIlroy further said that he feels quite confident with his woods and has also figured out his putting game. He added that he was working on his irons game to straighten them out a little. The four-time major champion said,
“I have this amazing feeling with my woods at the minute. I feel like I figured out my putting last week and I putted well the last three days at Bay Hill.” McIlroy further said, “A little bit of work to do with the irons and trying to get those straightened out.”
The Northern Irishman concluded by saying that he has to work on his technique a bit more.
“Just needed to clean up the technique a little bit, needed to clean up some things. Honestly, just needed to put the time in.”
Rory McIlroy will be again seen playing alongside Viktor Hovland and Jordan Spieth in the second round at TPC Sawgrass. He will tee off at 1:40 p.m. ET on Friday in The Player Championship. It remains to be seen on what position the Northern Irish superstar finishes before the first cut is made.
