The amount of time Rory McIlroy took to make his birdie putt split golf fans.
Although Rory McIlroy, a Northern Irishman, has acknowledged the wind blew his ball down well within the 10-second rule, some golf fans may be upset about how long it took for his ball to drop on the eighth hole in the Texas Open’s opening round.
On the eighth hole, McIlroy hit a 13-footer over the cup’s edge for a birdie.
The World No. 2 hesitated, walked a few steps ahead, hesitated some more, and then lumbered over to the cup as his ten seconds started.
The official Rule 13.1 states that “you are allowed a reasonable time to reach the hole and 10 more seconds to wait to see whether your ball will fall into the hole if any part of your ball overhangs the lip of the hole.”
McIlroy’s ball eventually fell as he was up by the hole.
There wasn’t really much wind there when I made the putt, so I assumed I missed it to the left. The ball was obviously hanging on the edge, so all I could hope for was a wind gust to blow it in, which fortunately occurred before the 10-second mark.”
On social media, only a small percentage of ardent supporters think McIlroy “cheated” the rules by taking longer than 10 seconds.
Nevertheless, McIlroy’s birdie-four was counted on the card because it was judged that he played well within the 10-second limit.
See what fans are saying about it all by viewing the thread on the PGA Tour clip below.
Last month at The Players Championship, something similar happened, but Austin Eckroat was judged to have taken too long.
With a flawless 3-under 69, McIlroy put himself in early contention to win his first Texas Open.
After the first round, he entered the top 10 thanks to birdies on the second, eighth, and 17th holes.
Unfortunately, the Northern Irishman’s birdie chip on the 18th hole lipped out, keeping him from finishing the round at 4-under par.
McIlroy watched in shock as he ultimately dropped his club into the bunker.
With a perfect 9-under 63, American player in form Akshay Bhatia shot to the top of the leaderboard.
Bhatia, 22, birdied five of the final seven holes on his back nine, going out in 32 and back in 31.
He is ahead of Brendon Todd and Justin Lower by three shots.
Max Homa returned to form with a 68.
VIEW FULL R1 SCORES HERE
Although Jordan Spieth did not play well in his home state, he did make the day’s best shot on the par-3 16th hole with an ace.
It was Spieth’s fourth career hole-in-one on the PGA Tour.
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