Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth were involved in a heated debate over where the Northern Irishman’s golf ball crossed into the water.
During the beginning of the Players tournament, Rory McIlroy and Jordan Spieth engaged in a contentious argument. The discussion centered on the location where McIlroy’s ball ended up on the seventh hole at TPC Sawgrass.
There was uncertainty about where the Ulsterman’s TP5x ball landed in relation to the red line near the fairway bunker before bouncing into the water.
During his first 18 holes, McIlroy found himself in a watery hazard with his tee shot for the second time, leaving him unsure of where to take his next shot.
McIlroy was confident that his golf ball landed beyond the red line before falling into the water. Spieth had doubts about it.
“I’m pretty comfortable I saw it above the red line,” McIlroy told Viktor Hovland, who was standing in the middle of the fairway.
Hovland said he thought it was close but he couldn’t say for sure. Then Spieth joined the conversation and the debate turned up a notch.
The whole exchange lasted around 12 minutes and it took the group 25 minutes to play the whole. Although they were waiting on the group in front.
Spieth believed ‘everybody’ caught the ball landing below the line and therefore McIlroy wasn’t entitled to drop where he was standing.
Said McIlroy: “Who is everybody? Who are you talking about, Jordan?”
Spieth said the TV crew saw McIlroy’s ball land below the line, although he conceded there was no actual footage.
He reminded McIlroy it’s ultimately up to him to determine where to drop.
A rules official was called and McIlroy explained: “I think that my ball bounced above the red line but it’s not definitive.
I’m very comfortable that it did but we’re trying to check with TV and they can’t say.”
Spieth then chimed in: “I think we can all agree that it crossed some land, it’s just a matter of where the drop is. Because it was so close.”
McIlroy told Spieth that he was dropping his golf ball ‘back’ of where it kicked into the water. “I’m sort of trying to split the difference,” he said.
Watch the whole exchange here:
Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth, and Viktor Hovland talk about McIlroy’s decision to take a drop on the 7th hole.
Rory’s score of a double bogey causes him to drop from the position of being the sole leader to now being tied for second place.
After taking a drop, McIlroy ended up with a double bogey six on the hole.
The golfer, who has won four major championships, finished his round with a birdie on the ninth hole, resulting in a score of 7-under 65.
He began his round on the back nine. During that period, he was tied for the top spot with Xander Schauffele.