Rory McIlroy has promised to come out all guns blazing on the final day after being slapped with a two-shot penalty in the third round of the Abu Dhabi HSBC Golf Championship on Saturday.
The world No7 was deemed to be in breach of Rule 25-1 when he did not take full relief from a spectators’ pathway on the second hole of the Abu Dhabi Golf Club.
McIlroy, who said he had “better things to think about” than keeping up to date with the rules, said: “I hit my second shot on the second into the left rough but on the spectator crosswalk.
“I took a drop and played my shot but I did not notice my left foot was still on the line and you need to take full relief.
“We went out to see it again and see my divot and it was clear I could not have played my shot with my feet anywhere else. It’s unfortunate. If anything it was a disadvantage because I dropped it in a bad lie and did not make birdie.
“It gives me a bit of extra motivation; not that winning this tournament isn’t motivation enough, but stuff like this, it’s sort of stupid.
There are a lot of stupid rules in golf and this is one of them.
“I guess I just have to try to make up those shots as early as possible tomorrow, try to get off to a fast start. I felt like I hung in there well and had a lot of opportunities on the back nine that I didn’t take. It was nice to birdie 18. It was all sort of in vain, so I’ll need to go out there and get off to a good one tomorrow.”
Asked how he was planning to get over his disappointment, McIlroy said: “I’m going to go and hit the gym so hard in about half an hour. I’m just going to go and run myself into the ground and try to get out some frustration. So, go to the gym, get some room service and lock myself away for the night and come out ready for tomorrow.”
McIlroy said there was no animosity towards Dave Renwick, the caddie of his playing partner Ricardo Gonzalez, who pointed out the rules infraction to him on the 18th green and asked him not to sign his card before checking.
He said: “Not at all. You have to adhere to the rules of this game and he was pointing out something he thought was questionable”.
Organisers have made a few changes to the final-round schedule in view of a thunderstorm forecast for the evening. Players will go out in three-balls instead of two and use both tees. The leadergroup will tee off at 10am.
