Two-stroke penalty compounds nightmare finish for McIlroy

A nightmare finish to his opening round at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am saw Rory McIlroy go from 6-under through 14 holes and at the top of the leaderboard, to signing for a a 1-under round of 71.

Starting on the back nine, a steady opening saw McIlroy make the turn at -2 and four birdies from the next five holes appeared to set him up for a grandstand finish.

However, things quickly fell apart for the Irishman and he finished out his round with three consecutive bogeys before saving par on the final hole.

It would get worse for McIlroy who was informed after his round that he had made an illegal drop on the seventh hole, having taken an unplayable lie following a wayward tee shot. He was handed a two-stroke penalty for his mistake.

An official explained to McIlroy that he has erroneously dropped his ball to the side, and afterwards the Hollywood man held his hands up to the mistake, admitting that he was unaware of a rule change in 2023 that proved to be his undoing.

"Unbeknownst to me, the rule changed in January 2023, where you used to be able to come back online and take a club length on either side," McIlroy said afterwards.

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

Patrick Cantlay is the clubhouse leader in California after a bogey-free round of 64 left him out on his own on -8.

Seamus Power is a shot behind McIlroy on level par and a round that included two birdies and two bogeys.