Rory McIlroy Assessed 2-Shot Penalty After Opening Round at Abu Dhabi Championship

Rory McIlroy was handed a two-shot penalty after the first round at the Abu Dabi Championship on Thursday. Officials ruled that the Masters champion improved his lie with a chip shot on a hole where he made double-bogey.

On the 12th hole at Yas Links, McIlroy's approach on the par-4 missed the green after a 357-yard drive. He flubbed an attempted chip up onto the green, and the ball rolled back down the slope and dropped into a divot. He then flattened his club down on some of the rough behind the ball, which officials deemed improved his lie.

McIlroy's score of 6 then turned into a quadruple-bogey 8, and his four-under round of 68 became a 2-under 70. That left him eight shots off the lead, which was held by Francesco Laporta after a bogey-free round of 62.

McIlroy, ranked No. 2 in the world, spent significant time in the scorer's hut after his round discussing the incident with officials. The actions significant hurt his chances of winning a record-trying eighth Race to Dubai title.

"There's no intent," McIlroy said. "I play by the rules. I try to do everything that I can to never end up in these positions."

McIlroy insisted there was no intent, but he admitted that it didn't look good when he watched the video after the round.

"But just by looking at the video, like it doesn't look very good," he said. "Obviously that wasn't my intent. I'm just trying to get a feel for the lie."

McIlroy had a trio of back-nine birdies to card his original round of 68 — two shots better than Eugenio Chacarra, who is currently the Race to Dubai leader. Still, McIlroy has a lot of work to do if he wants to overcome his current deficit.

Chacarra still has a 999-point lead over McIlroy, who is currently third behind Patrick Reed.