[ad_1]
Mark Schlabach, ESPN Senior Author
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — World No. 2 golfer Rory McIlroy had simply taken the lead at 8-under within the first spherical of the fiftieth Gamers Championship on Thursday when he pulled his driver left on the par-4 seventh gap, his sixteenth gap of the spherical at TPC Sawgrass.
McIlroy’s ball crossed a hazard and kicked into the water. From the tee, McIlroy was sure that he noticed his ball hit above the pink line. Norway’s Viktor Hovland and Jordan Spieth, who had been enjoying with McIlroy, did not appear so positive.
It made for a moderately uncomfortable second in what was a snug spherical for McIlroy, who tied a Gamers Championship document with 10 birdies in a spherical. He carded a 7-under 65 to seize a share of the lead with Xander Schauffele after the early wave.
Editor’s Picks
1 Associated
“It might have been good to shoot 62 and never hit two within the water,” McIlroy mentioned.
The seventh gap is a blind spot on the course, and TV replays did not seize McIlroy’s tee shot touchdown behind the bunker. If the ball hit above the pink hazard line, McIlroy was permitted to take a drop at that spot. If the ball hit beneath it, nevertheless, he must go a lot additional again to drop and hit his third shot.
After the spherical, McIlroy insisted that he noticed his ball hit above the pink line on No. 7. He ended up making a double bogey. McIlroy had an analogous scenario when he hit his tee shot into the water on No. 18, his ninth gap.
“It was only a matter of whether or not it was above the road or beneath, and I assumed I noticed it pitch above the road [on No. 7],” McIlroy mentioned. “[No.] 18 was a fairly related scenario. Once more, adamant it crossed, it is only a matter of the place it crosses. I believe this golf course greater than every other, it type of produces these conditions just a little bit.”
A birdie on the final to tie the lead.@McIlroyRory is the fifth participant to make 10 birdies in a spherical @THEPLAYERS. pic.twitter.com/n2nVsFGS1N
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 14, 2024
Hovland and Spieth declined to remark after their rounds. Hovland made a double bogey on the final gap to card a 1-over 73; Spieth posted a 2-over 74 with 4 birdies and 6 bogeys.
The golfers’ dialog on the seventh fairway lasted about 10 minutes.
“I believe Jordan was simply attempting to guarantee that I used to be doing the suitable factor,” McIlroy mentioned. “I imply, I used to be fairly positive that my ball had crossed the place I used to be type of dropping it. It is so laborious, proper, as a result of there was no TV proof. I used to be adamant. However I believe, once more, he was simply attempting to guarantee that I used to be going to do the suitable factor.”
After searching for his ball within the water and never discovering it, McIlroy and his caddie, Harry Diamond, walked again to the spot the place they believed his ball had landed.
Hovland walked throughout the golf green together with his hand in his pockets and instructed McIlroy, “We do not know for positive that it crossed the road.”
“I am fairly comfy saying that it did — that it landed above the pink line,” McIlroy mentioned.
“I assumed it was actually shut,” Hovland mentioned. “I am unable to say both approach.”
Then Spieth walked throughout the golf green and chimed in. Members of the TV crew had apparently instructed him that McIlroy’s ball hit beneath the road.
“Everybody that I am listening to that had eyes on it, which is once more not what issues, is saying they’re 100% sure it landed beneath the road,” Spieth mentioned. “That is all I am saying.”
By that point, a PGA Tour guidelines official arrived. McIlroy requested him to test with the TV broadcast, however he was instructed there have been no video accessible. McIlroy took a drop on the spot. He could not rise up and down, settling for a double-bogey 6. He bounced again with a birdie on the par-5 ninth.
“I really feel like I am one of the vital conscientious golfers out right here, so if I really feel like I’ve finished one thing improper, it will play on my conscience for the remainder of the event,” McIlroy mentioned. “I am a giant believer in karma, and when you do one thing improper, I really feel like it’ll come round and chew you in some unspecified time in the future.
“I clearly do not attempt to do something improper on the market and play by the principles and do the suitable factor. I really feel like I clearly did that [on] these two drops.”
Schauffele’s bogey-free spherical of 7-under 65 was way more uneventful. He began on the again 9 and made the flip at 3 underneath 33. Then he posted birdies on Nos. 1, 2 and three and one other one on the par-four fifth.
Schauffele bumped into hassle on the seventh gap after hitting his tee shot into the timber to the suitable. He was 163 yards from the opening and surrounded by limbs. His ball was sitting down and there was one opening-straight up.
After telling his caddie, Austin Kaiser, that he may stay with trying a “hero shot,” Schauffele took a full swing and hit a excessive sweeping shot throughout a bunker and water. His ball landed within the fairway in need of the inexperienced, and he chipped to 4½ toes and made par.
“It was over every little thing, nevertheless it was similar to a window that was fairly excessive up,” Schauffele mentioned. “I’d not need to hit the shot once more.”
[ad_2]
Source link
