Rory McIlroy dismisses drop debate as he shares Players lead

Rory McIlroy insisted his conscience was clear after shrugging off a lengthy debate over a penalty drop to claim a share of the clubhouse lead on day one of the Players Championship.

Having started from the 10th at TPC Sawgrass, McIlroy looked set to lead outright when he covered his first 15 holes in eight under par, only to pull his tee shot on the seventh into the water.

It was not clear where the ball had bounced before entering the hazard and that led to a near 10-minute discussion with playing partners Viktor Hovland and Jordan Spieth, who appeared to question the location of McIlroy’s drop.

Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth and Viktor Hovland discuss McIlroy's drop on No. 7.

Rory makes double bogey to move from solo leader to T2. pic.twitter.com/dkV6a5Q22W

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McIlroy eventually hit his third shot short of the green and ran up a double-bogey six, but made his 10th birdie of the day on the par-five ninth to match the seven-under-par 65 of Olympic champion Xander Schauffele.

“I think Jordan [Spieth] was just trying to make sure that I was doing the right thing,” McIlroy told reporters after the round.

“I was pretty sure that my ball had crossed where I was sort of dropping it. It’s so hard, right, because there was no TV evidence.

“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 was adamant, but I guess I started to doubt myself a little bit. I was like, ‘OK, did I actually see what I thought I saw?’. It is a bit of a [television] blind spot. I think the best view was from the tee, which was the view that we had.”

Hovland and Spieth chose not to speak to the media after rounds of 73 and 74