For McIlroy golf is careless and unforgiving, mistake proves very costly
As Abu Dhabi HSBC Open gets underway on Friday, Irish golfer and World’s No. 3 Rory McIlroy has also learned some valuable lessons just at the beginning of the star-studded event.
It is only a matter of time when the reverberations of this mistake can cost him the championship.
Just before playing for the par-4 hole located off the green, he brushed away sand to align it in his direction.
The 22-year-golfer had to compensate for his rather careless mistake, committed on ninth green, with the help of two shots.
He had the intention of putting the ball but since the ball was not on the putting surface, he had to pay the penalty for his mistake.
As per the rules and regulations of golf, this is simply an infringement. However, if the ball had been on the green, there could have been an exception, but in the case of McIlroy this was clearly not the case.
Whether he was able to observe it or not, Tiger Woods remained silent regarding the entire situation.
It was Luke Donald, his other team member, who was the first to point out the blunder his teammate and competitor had just made.
Commenting on his own mistake, McIlroy acknowledged, "Just made a very stupid mental mistake on [No.] 9 that cost me 2 strokes".
He said, "There was maybe six feet of fringe going up to the green and there was so much sand in my line, I didn't even think about it. I just went down and brushed the sand, and Luke said, 'Don't think you can do that'".
At the same time, it is also important to mention that the penalty imposed on McIlroy is quite harsh in nature.
The 2-stroke punishment is also implemented when a golfer hits the ball out of bounds. He believes that in his case the punishment must have been flexible.
"Hey, look, the rules are the rules,'' McIlroy said. "And we've got to play by them. I was just caught on the wrong side of them today'.'
McIlroy is currently at number 5 of the list at the event with the top positions being occupied by a rather unheralded brigade of golfers.
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