Just drop it, says Mcllroy, after ball call sparks debate

RORY McILROY insisted his conscience was clear after shrugging off a lengthy debate over a penalty drop on day one of the Players Championship.

- Phil Casey

Having started from the 10th at TPC Sawgrass, McIlroy covered his first 15 holes in eight under par, only to pull his tee shot on the seventh into the water.

It was not clear where the ball had bounced before entering the hazard and that led to a near 10-minute discussion with playing partners Viktor Hovland and Jordan Spieth, who appeared to question the location of McIlroy’s drop.

The Northern Irishman eventually hit his third shot short of the green and ran up a double-bogey six, but made his 10th birdie of the day on the par-five ninth to match the seven-under-par 65 of Olympic champion Xander Schauffele.

“I think Jordan [Spieth] was just trying to make sure that I was doing the right thing,” said McIlroy.