The PLAYERS: Rory McIlroy puts his OB controversy with Spieth, Hovland to bed

Rory McIlroy hit the water twice at The Players Championship on Thursday and still posted a 7-under 65.

However, his tee shot on the par 4 seventh hole shocked him. controversy between him and his playing partners Jordan Spieth and Viktor Hovland. He hit a low shot, but it appeared to bounce off the water.

The case attracted everyone’s attention because it usually does not take this long for a verdict to be announced.

Part of the reason was that both Mr. Spieth and Mr. Hovland had doubts about whether Mr. Rory’s view was correct.

After the round, McIlroy spoke about the situation.

“It was a question of above the line or below the line. I thought it was thrown over the line,” McIlroy explained. “I was adamant that I saw it bounce over the red line, but when someone comes in and says, ‘Well, I thought someone wouldn’t bounce.'” It just raises questions inside. Again, it’s up to you to decide if you’re fully satisfied that you actually saw what you saw. ”

McIlroy dropped the ball where it appeared to have crossed the out-of-bounds line and into the water. This didn’t seem to sit well with Hovland, as the 2019 Players champion revealed that he thought the ball had crossed further back towards the tee box.

Spieth, on the other hand, was concerned about whether the ball actually bounced below the OB marker, rather than above it as McIlroy claimed. That would have made a big difference in where McIlroy hit his third shot.

It didn’t help that the various camera angles used to broadcast the tournament couldn’t see where the ball entered the water. It’s essentially a blind spot.

“I started doubting myself a little bit,” McIlroy said. “I thought, ‘Okay, did I actually see what I thought I saw?'” But as long as I was comfortable, and Jordan and Victor were comfortable too. I was just checking. ”

Neither Spieth nor Hovland seem to suggest McIlroy did anything wrong. But neither spoke to the media after the round, so it’s easy to see how they feel about this round.

But when you watch the video, once they were on the same page, both agreed with McIlroy’s decision to step down from where he went.

Hovland is a stickler for the rules, having found himself in a similar situation with Daniel Berger at the 2022 Players Championship. He continued to stick to that scenario, so it spoke volumes that he ultimately agreed with McIlroy’s decision.

Spieth also appeared to be protecting the integrity of the game. Both wanted to make sure there were no new rules violations like the one McIlroy committed at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am.

“I think Jordan was just trying to make sure I was doing the right thing,” McIlroy said. “I was sure my ball was over where it was going to fall. It’s very difficult because there was no TV evidence. I was resolute.”

His drop was of no use in the end, as McIlroy ultimately settled for a double bogey on that hole.

The Northern Irishman tied the record with 10 birdies on the day. It was a significant improvement from last week’s struggle at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.

However, kudos to the PGA Tour for posting the entire exchange. Tours typically don’t reveal those things to the public during tournament play.

The trio will play together again on Friday at 1:40 p.m. ET to earn a spot and play for big money.

Savannah Lee Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through.If you want to know more about golf, please follow us. @_PlayingThrough On all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirls and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.