Rory McIlroy caused major controversy on day one of the Tour Championship at East Lake on Thursday.
McIlroy has experienced a real rollercoaster of emotions to say the least on the PGA Tour in 2025, and a win at the Tour Championship would be a fitting way to end a season that began with so much promise.
He won The Masters in April – his third victory of the season, but since then everything has been somewhat of a struggle for the world number two. He will be hoping to end on a good note this week, though.
On Tuesday, McIlroy said he was one of the few who liked the old Tour Championship format, and he is definitely in the minority in that regard.
However, after his 66 on day one at East Lake, he would have been a long way behind Scottie Scheffler heading into the final three rounds, had the PGA Tour not changed the system in 2025.
McIlroy apparently made a frank Scheffler admission before the Tour Championship, by apparently suggesting that he cannot challenge the world number one every single week, and that proved to be true on day one at East Lake.
After the five-time major champion finished his round, many fans were unhappy with something that he did during his opening round on Thursday.
PGA Tour told to make rule change after Rory McIlroy’s round at the Tour Championship
Scheffler said he was rooting hard for McIlroy to get up and down out of the sand so that they could finish their first round before the horn blew as a result of inclement weather.
The Northern Irishman did exactly that, but in an extremely unconventional manner.
After he thinned his bunker shot, his ball ricocheted off of the grandstand behind the 18th green and rebounded to just 17 feet from the hole.
McIlroy then went on to make the putt, but some golf fans have urged the PGA Tour to change the rules following the 36-year-old’s lucky birdie on the 18th hole.
One fan exclaimed: “I hit the same shot today. Had 20+ yard chip coming back. He should have to drop by the grandstand.“ While another made a great point saying: “What nonsense. In any other form of golf without stands you are buried in the rough. If you hit the stands, you should get a drop, not a putt for birdie.“
That sentiment was backed up by many other TV viewers, with fans stating: “If only I had backboards around the green when I play a bunker shot during my rounds. The perks of pro golf. Never lose a ball, perfect conditions and lucky bounces.“
And: “Get rid of the grand stands! Players never get harshly penalized for poor shots when the grand stands act as a free relief zone.“
While others were equally adamant in their responses about a much-needed change.
“I’d love to see a rule that states if you hit the grandstands it’s a 1 stroke penalty or that ball has to be placed in a spot that is nearly an impossible up and down,“ one exclaimed, while another said: “I honestly think it’s easier to score on Tour than just playing regular. Someone always finds your ball, you can bank it off the grandstand and still get relief, and if you shank it, the gallery has always trampled down the rough and you get an amazing lie.“
The views of the fans continued to flood in on X, with another suggesting that the outcome of McIlroy’s simply wasn’t fair, “There is no “luck” if there’s no grandstand there. Luck is a ball hitting a rock and staying dry rather than water. Not clanking off a man made grandstand that isn’t there 361 days of the year to help other golfers.“
While one fan even suggested that McIlroy purposely hit his ball into the grandstand: “Dude he did that on purpose.“
The fans above actually make great points.
The R&A got it right regarding ‘grandstanding’, as it has become known, at the Open Championship in July.
Anyone whose ball either remained in or was impeded by the grandstands were forced to take a drop in extremely deep rough above ankle high.
Because of those, nobody even flirted with bailing out into the grandstands.
While McIlroy may not have meant to hit the shot he did on the 18th hole at the Tour Championship., it could be argued that he may have been more inclined to hit his ball slightly fat if the same rule was deployed by the PGA Tour.
What Rory McIlroy said about his birdie on 18 at the Tour Championship
McIlroy addressed the media after his opening round of 66 at East Lake on Thursday.
And unsurprisingly, the first question he was asked pertained to his bunker shot on 18.
McIlroy said: “Yeah, pretty lucky in the end. I think as well, if it hadn’t have come down and we had to drop, we mightn’t have got finished, so lucky in a lot of different ways, lucky for the score and lucky we got done.
“I feel like I played well enough to shoot 4-under if not better, so it was a nice and lucky way to finish.“
McIlroy was then asked what his instant reaction was when his ball came off the club out of the sand.
He responded: “Oh, no, pretty much. Got a little thin, came out a little faster than obviously I wanted it to, but at that point you’re just hoping that something is going to happen — all the TIO lovers are going to love that one on Twitter tonight.“
TIO is a Temporary Immovable Obstruction, and McIlroy used the grandstand behind the 18th green to his full advantage on day one of the Tour Championship.
In that specific instance, I really don’t think he meant to do it, and the bunker shot he faced wasn’t exactly overly difficult anyway.
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