Rory McIlroy found himself somehow caught up in the chaos of Patrick Reed’s rules last week at the Farmers Insurance Open, and that left him with doubts even after the tournament.
Reed, of course, had a free fall because of a ball embedded in hole 10 on Saturday in round 3 at Torrey Pines. It was a decision that was talked about for two consecutive days, although he won on Sunday, and it was Reed himself who dragged McIlroy into it. when he tweeted on Saturday night that McIlroy did exactly the same thing he did at hole 18.
After the video was released on Sunday, the two relief decisions appear to be quite similar. McIlroy’s ball bounced in the rough – as well as Reed’s – but McIlroy, who like Reed never saw the bounce, said it was in place and fell. He was adamant after his round that he didn’t need to call a rules officer because he was certainly embedded. And yet, the replay showed that unless it fell on its own pitch mark (which is certainly possible, though unlikely), the ball would almost certainly go no have been incorporated.
Unless … it was stepped on.
“An email was sent to the Tour on Monday saying my ball was stepped on to be found, but the volunteer did not tell me that on Saturday,” McIlroy said on Wednesday at the Phoenix Open. “That’s why I made a relief of the embedded ball, because it was an embedded ball, but I didn’t know it had been stepped on at the time. So, obviously, the video came out on Sunday with my ball bouncing and then going in, and at that point, I I’m like, ‘Well, it must have entered its own height mark or something,’ because the ball was obviously connected. “
The Tour exonerated both players on Sunday, despite not knowing that McIlroy’s ball had actually been stepped on, but McIlroy said he went to sleep on Sunday night unsafe.
“I went to bed on Sunday night, kind of wondering if I had done the right thing after watching the video. … I at least felt better about my actions knowing that I did the right thing, that I was relieved by a ball that was embedded or stepped on. So it was good that it surfaced because I was questioning myself a little bit on Sunday.
“’Did I do the right thing? Did I follow the rules? Did I see something that wasn’t there? ‘ It was a slightly difficult Sunday night. I started to doubt myself a little, which is not my way. But I was convinced it was a built-in ball, “said McIlroy.
It turns out that was an inlaid ball, even if the way to get to that point was not what was originally thought.