Rory McIlroy‘s tee shot on the 14th landed in such a tight spot that even the Sky Sports commentators were unsure about the rules.
The world No. 2 arrived at Wentworth’s $9 million BMW PGA Championship after shooting an unofficial course-record 60 in Wednesday’s pro-am. He then made five birdies in his first nine holes of the opening round. But his tee shot on the 14th landed on a small strip of grass between a boundary fence and the cart path. McIlroy was stuck between two possible relief options, but only one was allowed under the local rules. At first, it looked like he had almost no way to play the shot and could be heading for a bogey. That led to a live debate on Sky Sports, with the commentators disagreeing over which rule applied. Rory McIlroy finished with a three-under 69.
That is when the Sky Sports broadcast team started discussing the rules. Analysts Tony Johnstone and Sam Torrance disagreed over whether the fence was out of bounds and whether Rory McIlroy could get free relief from it. Johnstone first said McIlroy could get a free drop. Torrance then reminded him that players had been told during the rules meeting that the fence was the boundary.
Johnstone admitted he may have remembered it incorrectly. Announcer Alison Whitaker then read the local rule. Players could not get free relief from the fencing on the 14th hole, including its supports and brackets. She said the rule could play an important role throughout the week. So McIlroy had to look elsewhere for relief. His ball was also close to the cart path. From the right-handed side, he had no real swing. But when he switched to a left-handed stance, he could make a backswing, although his foot would be on the path.
A rules official watched McIlroy practice the shot from that position and decided it was a reasonable way for him to play the ball. That decision was important. Under the rules of golf, if a shot is considered reasonable, a player can receive free relief from an immovable obstruction, such as a cart path.
Tournament officials later explained the ruling to Sky Sports. They said McIlroy was given relief from the cart path, not the fence. Because the space between the fence and the path was so narrow, officials expanded the relief area to include part of the grass strip. The fence also stopped McIlroy from taking a drop on the other side of the path. So he was allowed to cross the path and drop on the green side, as long as the new spot was not closer to the hole.
Rory McIlroy made the most of the chance. From his new position, he chipped the ball close to the hole and made the putt for par. What first looked like a likely bogey ended up being just another par on his scorecard. McIlroy finished his opening round with a three-under 69, three shots behind co-leaders Aaron Rai and Sweden’s Joakim Lagergren.
After the round, McIlroy focused more on his recent form than the rules decision. He said he has seen encouraging signs in his game and wants to keep working with the swing feels he has found until they become more natural on the course. If McIlroy goes on to win at Wentworth, his par on the 14th will be one moment worth remembering. It took a smart recovery, a close look at the rules, and a little help from a ruling to keep his round on track.
This is not the first time McIlroy has been involved in a rules discussion. At the 2023 U.S. Open, McIlroy received free relief for an embedded ball on the par-5 14th hole at Los Angeles Country Club during the final round. The USGA later said the official on site had used the wrong reference point for his drop.
The mistake did not change the result. McIlroy still finished one shot behind eventual champion Wyndham Clark. However, it showed how important small rules decisions can be. A decade earlier, McIlroy had a very different experience at the 2013 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. He was given a two-shot penalty for taking an incorrect drop after failing to take full relief from a spectator crossing the course. The penalty changed his bogey-free 68 into a 70.