PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Jordan Spieth downplayed any possible tension with Rory McIlroy over the drop that McIlroy took during the opening round of The Players Championship.
On Thursday, Spieth was involved in a lengthy rules discussion with McIlroy and fellow playing competitor Viktor Hovland over whether McIlroy’s hooking tee shot hit above the red penalty line on the seventh hole. The trio of players discussed the drop location for more than eight minutes, and the Tour’s own social-media account sent out the entire exchange between the marquee players.
Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth and Viktor Hovland discuss McIlroy's drop on No. 7.
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 14, 2024
Rory makes double bogey to move from solo leader to T2. pic.twitter.com/dkV6a5Q22W
McIlroy was “adamant” that his ball hit above the red line but Spieth, after talking to others in the vicinity, expressed some doubt. McIlroy ultimately dropped where he felt was “safe” and wound up making a double-bogey 6.
Neither Spieth nor Hovland spoke to the media afterward, fueling speculation that there was a rift.
When asked whether everyone in the group was comfortable with the outcome, McIlroy said: “I think so, yeah. I’m comfortable. I think that’s the most important thing.”
A day later, after missing the cut, Spieth said that he had no issue with how the ruling went down.
“I thought it ended up in a good spot,” he said. “I only walked over there because I thought he had dropped it, and then he was questioning where he was dropping it. So I was just trying to make sure he didn’t play it and everyone was good. I was good with the spot he was choosing.”
It was the second time that round that McIlroy had a question about where his ball crossed the line of the hazard. But Spieth said that the lengthy discussion on No. 7 had nothing to do with what had transpired a few hours earlier, when McIlroy found the water on the 18th hole and also needed to determine where to drop. McIlroy did well to make a bogey-5 on the hole after finding the green from more than 275 yards away.
“Every situation like that is their own. They’re not the same shots by any means,” Spieth said. “I think all anybody wants is for you to put the ball where it should go, and especially on a golf course like this, or last week, you get some situations where it can be really tricky on knowing for sure. You normally err on the safe side, and then you pick where you’re virtually certain where it did cross, and I think that’s what Rory chose both times.”
Spieth understood the viewer interest but said that the issue was overblown.
“That kind of conversation probably happened a dozen times yesterday in groups,” he said. “Viktor was having the conversation, and I only walked over because it seemed like, Hey, let’s just make sure everything is all right, which I wasn’t even planning on getting involved, and maybe shouldn’t have, but it seemed like they were maybe at a sticking point. So I thought maybe I could help.”
