Six-time majors winning Rory McIlroy has been hit with a controversial two-shot penalty in his opening round of the 2026 Abu Dhabi Adcar Championship.
McIlroy is eyeing his first career win in 15 starts in the event to boost his hopes of grabbing a record-qualling eighth Race to Dubai title next week in Dubai.
But that task has been made a whole lot harder following a situation in his opening round on Thursday on the host Yas Links layout.
After posting what he thought was a round of a four-under 68 and a tie for 13th, the current World No. 2 was advised by Tour officials post his round he’d been hit with a two-shot penalty for improving his lie in rough just off the back right side of the par-4 12th hole.
It meant McIlroy signing instead for a round of a two-under 70 and a first round tie for 33rd.
️ #PENALTY — Rory McIlroy has been penalized 2 shots on the par-4 12th, after he allegedly improved his lie in the rough. Rory made a double on the hole but the penalty turned it into a quad & his score for the round went from 68 (-4) to 70 (-2). https://t.co/Lictxz3J3Y
— NUCLR GOLF (@NUCLRGOLF) November 5, 2026
NO INTENTION TO CHEAT ….
Claims @McIlroyRory after being hit with a two-shot penalty on the 8th hole during opening round @ADGolfChamps
“They showed me a video from 12. Hit my first chip shot from down on the bottom of the hill, then get up, came back down and rolled into a divot.
“And then as I went to sort of just get a feel for the lie, the close-up of the camera, you can see like a little piece of grass around the divot sort of lies down as I put my club down behind the ball, and I guess the grass doesn’t return back to its original position.
“Obviously there’s no intent. I play by the rules. 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.”
Getty
✅ @TOURMISS
— Fatiha (@TOURMISS) November 5, 2026
Ever intent to avoid being accused of cheating, the Northern Irishman said after the sanction: “They showed me a video from 12. Hit my first chip shot from down on the bottom of the hill, then get up, came back down and rolled into a divot.
“And then as I went to sort of just get a feel for the lie, the close-up of the camera, you can see like a little piece of grass around the divot sort of lies down as I put my club down behind the ball, and I guess the grass doesn’t return back to its original position.
“Obviously there’s no intent. I play by the rules. 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.
“The ball is in a sort of bottom of a sandy divot. I’m trying to feel like if I can get a 54-degree onto the back of the ball, but in the process, this piece of grass has sort of laid down, and I guess the technical term for the rule is if you press down on the piece.
“I don’t feel like I pressed down. But at the same time, I don’t want the perception of, like, people thinking I got away with something either.
“So I’m happy to take a 2-shot penalty and move on and move into tomorrow.”
McIlroy was deemed to have breached Rule 8.1b (4) that states:
Rule 8.1b(4) permits a player to ground their club lightly right in front of or behind the ball. “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.
Having reviewed the footage, McIlroy was unable to say whether he had pressed the club on the ground or not. However, given his concern over perception of the footage, he was not comfortable proceeding without penalty. He therefore chose to apply a two stroke penalty.
Italian Francesco Laporta leads the field by three shots in posting a 10-under 62.
