McIlroy Receives Rules Warning, Calls Out Officials’ Lack of ‘Common Sense’

Rory McIlroy‘s group was put on the clock twice during the first round of the Amgen Irish Open, which teed off Thursday at The K Club in Ireland. McIlroy didn’t take these warnings well and said he was frustrated by what happened.

Speaking about the issue after his performance, the five-time major champion criticized the rules officials’ decision, which he believed to have acted with little “common sense.”

“I got frustrated the last few holes because I felt a bit rushed,” McIlroy told reporters. “We got put on the clock pretty early and then the first official went away and then we were put on the clock for the last three holes by another one.

“I feel like it always happens and I don’t think they use sort of common sense in terms of, well, of course we’re going to lose ground because we’re going to have to wait on crowds and wait on the two camera crews that are out there. They should give us a little bit of leeway.”

McIlroy revealed that this isn’t the first time it’s happened, but rather that it’s quite common for the top-rated groups he regularly plays in. He said it even happened at the Players Championship, where he went on to win the title.

“It’s happened to me quite a lot before in these sort of big groups when I come back to Europe and play and I just let it agitate me…. Any time I either come back to this tour or I play in some of those (world) 1, 2, 3 groups, we are always put on the clock for the same reason. It happened at the Players and I lost my (expletive) with an official.”

Slow place is a problem that has taken center stage in the golf world in recent times, with major tours adopting measures to limit it. These measures generally range from warnings to penalty strokes and fines.

McIlroy, who won the Irish Open at The K Club in 2016, finished the first round with a 1-under 71, thanks to five birdies and four bogeys. This placed him tied for 50th entering the second round.

The Northern Irishman is sharing a group with South African Thriston Lawrence and Norwegian Kristoffer Reitan. They will tee off on Friday at 8:00 am Eastern Time.

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