McIlroy handed two-shot penalty for improving lie

Rory McIlroy was given a two‑shot penalty for improving his lie during the opening round of the Abu Dhabi Championship.

The first‑round leaderboard had Francesco Laporta of Italy at ten under, Sam Bairstow of England, Jon Rahm of Spain and Bernd Wiesberger of Austria on seven under, Adrian Meronk of Poland and Matt Jordan of England at six under, Tom Hatton, Andy Rai and Kristoffer Reitan at five under, Aaron Scott of Australia and Matt Wallace of England at four under, Ethan Ferguson of Scotland and Jamie Dean of England at three under, Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland, Eduardo Chacarra of Spain, Francesco Molinari of Italy and Tommy Fleetwood of England at two under, and Paul Reed of the United States at two over.

The DP World Tour said McIlroy breached rule 8.1b(4), which allows a player to ground the club lightly in front of or behind the ball. The tour added that "ground the club lightly" means the club’s weight may be supported by the grass without a penalty even if the lie improves, but pressing the club into the ground is not permitted.

The violation turned his six into a quadruple‑bogey eight – the only dropped shots of his round – and resulted in a signed score of two‑under 70.

The 37‑year‑old Northern Irish golfer, who is chasing a record‑equalling eighth Race to Dubai title, had appeared to start strongly with a four‑under 68, but the penalty now leaves him eight shots behind leader Francesco Laporta.

"I play by the rules," said the world number two. He continued, "I try to do everything that I can to never end up in these positions. But just by looking at the video, like it doesn't look very good. Obviously that wasn't my intent. I'm just trying to get a feel for the lie."