Watch: Rory McIlroy caught breaking a golf rule at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am round one

During the opening round of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Rory McIlroy was handed a two-stroke penalty for wrongly dropping the ball on the side of his direct line. As a result, he finished the day at T39 after carding a 1-under 71.

McIlroy started on the tenth tee at Spyglass Hill Golf Course and was 6-under after the first 14 holes. Unfortunately things began going downhill for him after this. On par 4, he carded a bogey, and it got worse on the next.

On par 5, hole 7, his sixteenth, McIlroy's tee shot went wayward and fell into the bush under the pine tree. As a result, he opted for an unplayable relief and dropped the ball on the club length to the right of his direct line. As per the rule that was modified last year, a player is not allowed to drop the ball anywhere except on the direct line. Therefore, he was given a penalty, and he ended up making a triple bogey on the hole.

Mark Dusbabek, senior video analyst for the PGA Tour, explained the situation. He said, as per the PGA Tour:

"When the rules changed in 2023, back-of-the-line relief, you still go back-of-the-line, in line with the flagstick, from where the ball is. However, you have to drop it on that line, and it can roll in any direction, even forward, one club length. Rory, from that line, dropped one club length to the side, which makes it a wrong place, and it will be a two-stroke penalty.

"Rory was met in scoring by our chief referee, Stephen Cox, and he totally owned the mistake, very professional about it, and admitted to the Rules mistake … It can drop on the line and roll up to a club length either direction; however, he took the club length off of the line and dropped it in that area, which he thought was a relief area, and it was correct there in 2019, but it changed in 2023."

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"I wasn't aware," Rory McIlroy said on the penalty

Speaking at the post-round interview of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Rory McIlroy said he was not unaware that the rule was changed. He said:

"So I took an unplayable on 7, and I took it back on line. Then, unbeknownst to me the rule changed in January 2023 where you used to be able to come back online, take a club length either side. That was changed in 2019 to be able to do that.

"I wasn't aware that that rule was changed again in 2023, so I took a drop thinking of the 2019 rules when everything was sort of changed not knowing that the rule was changed again in 2023, so got a two-stroke penalty there."

McIlroy will tee off for the second round from the first hole of Pebble Beach Golf Links at 12:45 pm ET.