Abu Dhabi Championship first-round leaderboard
-10 F Laporta (Ita); -7 S Bairstow (Eng), J Rahm (Spa), B Wiesberger (Aut); -6 A Meronk (Pol), M Jordan (Eng)
Selected others: -5 T Hatton (Eng), A Rai (Eng), K Reitan (Nor); -4 A Scott (Aus), M Wallace (Eng); -3 E Ferguson (Sco), J Dean (Eng); -2 R McIlroy (NI), E Chacarra (Spa), F Molinari (Ita), T Fleetwood (Eng); +2 P Reed (US)
Rory McIlroy has been hit with a two-shot penalty for improving his lie during the opening round of the Abu Dhabi Championship.
The six-time major winner was penalised after pressing down on the grass behind his ball with his club before hitting a chip on the par-four 12th at Yas Links.
In a statement, the DP World Tour said McIlroy had breached rule 8.1b(4), which permits a player "to ground their club lightly right in front of or behind the ball".
The statement added: "'Ground the club lightly' means allowing the weight of the club to be supported by the grass on or above the ground surface and there is no penalty even if the lie is improved.
"However, a player is not allowed to press the club on the ground."
The infraction, which was imposed following his round, changed his six to a quadruple-bogey eight - his only dropped shots of the round - and meant he signed for a two-under 70.
Northern Ireland's McIlroy, who is chasing a record-equalling eighth Race to Dubai title, looked to have made a strong start to the tournament with a four-under 68, but the impact of the penalty instead leaves him eight shots adrift of leader Francesco Laporta.
The 37-year-old said that while "obviously there's no intent" on his part, he was "happy" to take the penalty.
"I play by the rules," said the world number two.
He added: "I try to do everything that I can to never end up in these positions.
"But just by looking at the video, like it doesn't look very good. Obviously that wasn't my intent. I'm just trying to get a feel for the lie."
English (US) ·