Watch: Johnson Wagner recreates Rory McIlroy’s controversial ‘where did it cross’ move

The first day of the Players Championship 2024 witnessed a controversy when one of Rory McIlroy's shots found the water, and he took the penalty from there. However, before taking the penalty, a long discussion took place between him, officials, and his groupmates.

The controversy remained part of the discussion in the post-round show on Golf Channel. So much so that Johnson Wagner tried to emulate the situation on the show to get some conclusions.

During the show, Wagner tried to recreate McIlroy's tee shot's bounce to judge where the ball had landed. He tried with three balls, firing missiles, to get as much bounce as he could. He threw the first ball on the plain surface, the second on the slope behind the hazard red line, and the third inside the line to compare the bounce with Rory's tee shot.

Following the three throws, the experts in the studio concluded that it was the middle one, which was close to McIlroy's shot, and the golfer was correct in his claim that the ball had bounced before the hazard red line.

Earlier, McIlroy entered the par-4, 7th, his 16th hole of the day, at 8-under. However, the ball off his tee shot bounced on the slope before dropping into the water. Now, the question was if it had bounced inside the hazard line or before it, because if it was the former, the 34-year-old golfer had to take the penalty from his tee box.

McIlroy's groupmates Jordan Spieth and Viktor Hovland also got involved in the discussion to locate the correct dropping point. All this controversy happened because no camera was placed to cover the slope area, and hence it was not possible to cross-check the bounce.

After 7-8 minutes of discussion, the ruling came in the Northern Irishman's favor, and he took the drop from a point near the slope. He ended up with a double bogey, and two shots later he finished at 7-under to take the first-day lead.

Later in the post-round interview, McIlroy said he was sure he was dropping the ball at the correct place, but it was hard to explain due to the lack of TV evidence. He added that Jordan Spieth was just ensuring he was doing it correctly.

"I was adamant," he said. "But I think, again, he (Spieth) was just trying to make sure that I was going to do the right thing. If anything, I was being conservative with it. I think at the end of the day we're all trying to protect ourselves, protect the field, as well. I wouldn't say it was needless. I think he was just trying to make sure that what happened was the right thing."

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When will Rory McIlroy begin the second round of the Players Championship in 2024?

Rory McIlroy is grouped with Jodan Spieth and Viktor Hovland for the second round of the Players Championship. The trio will tee off from the first hole on Friday, March 15, at 1:40 pm ET.

Currently, the 2020 Players Championship winner is placed joint first at 7-under, while Hovland and Spieth are in the bottom half after shooting 73 and 74, respectively.