Rory McIlroy fully accepted a two-stroke penalty for improving his lie during last week’s DP World Tour event in Abu Dhabi. But most golf fans will probably be surprised to learn he could have done something to avoid the costly infraction.
McIlroy tamped down some grass behind his ball before hitting a chip shot on the par-4 12th at Yas Links GC during the first round of the Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship last Thursday. McIlroy’s first attempt from a similar spot had come up short and rolled back down. He then chipped on and two-putted for double bogey before having the score changed to a quad after the round.
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“I don’t feel like I pressed down,” McIlroy said after. “But at the same time, I don’t want the perception of, like, people thinking like I got away with something either. So I’m happy to take a two-shot penalty and move on and move into tomorrow.”
But he probably would have been a lot happier if he had done what one rules official says is within the rules. That would be David Blake, who hopped on the Talk Birdie podcast to explain. Have a listen:
Had Rory McIlroy used his hand to move the grass back, potentially no penalty would have applied explains international rules official David Blake to @nickohern and @MarkAllenGolf on @TalkBirdie_ToMe . pic.twitter.com/JzIhBPBDvS
— TalkBirdieToMe (@TalkBirdie_ToMe) November 11, 2026
“If that grass had bounced back up, or if he had actually seen that he’d pushed the grass down and then popped it back up himself, got his hand down there and popped the grass back up, that’s an introduction in 2019 where you can fix any improvement under 8.1a(1) and 8.1a(2),” Blake says in the clip.
Interesting. Even pod co-host Nick O’Hern, a longtime tour pro, is surprised by Blake’s answer.
Blake goes on to say that Bryson DeChambeau could have done something similar at the Open Championship in July when he famously incurred a two-stroke penalty for walking around in the high grass around his golf ball. Although, that would have taken a bit more work to fix.
Anyway, next time, Rory. Or Bryson. Or any golfer, really. The more you know.
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This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
