“I thought he had dropped it” - Jordan Spieth gives his take on Rory McIlroy's controversial ball drop at The Players 2024

Jordan Spieth opened up about the controversial drop of Rory McIlroy during the first round of The Players Championship 2024. McIlroy found himself embroiled in controversy on the seventh hole in the opening round of the PGA Tour event on Thursday, March 14th.

Reportedly, his ball bounced back onto the land after initially landing in the water. There was a lot of discussion regarding whether the ball landed above or below the red line marking the penalty area.

Rory McIlroy was paired up with Jordan Spieth and Victor Hovland for the initial two rounds of the tournament, and following the second round, the American golfer expressed his take on the matter. Spieth said he joined the discussion because he thought McIlroy had dropped the shot.

Spieth said (via Golf Week):

"I only walked over there because I thought he had dropped it, and then he was questioning where he was dropping it. So I was just trying to make sure he didn’t play it and everyone was good.

The former Masters winner further explained that they discussed the correct position of the ball.

“I was good with the spot he was choosing. Then I was just listening to the conversation of Rory and Viktor, and Rory had said … ‘we think it crossed up there, could have been back there, so this seems like somewhere in between.’ That sounds like something you probably should verify with a rules official, and then he did. And it was all good," he added.

It is important to note that McIlroy made a double bogey on the par-4 seventh hole of the TPC Sawgrass's Stadium Course. He had a smooth start at the tournament with three back-to-back birdies on the first three holes on Thursday.

McIlroy shot ten birdies, one bogey, and one double bogey in the opening round to score 7-under 65. In the tournament's second round, he hit a bogey on the first hole and added a birdie on the second.

McIlroy had five birdies, four bogeys, and a double bogey to score 1-over par 73 on Friday and dropped 13 positions on the leaderboard to settle in a tie for 14th place.

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How did Jordan Spieth perform at The Players Championship 2024?

Jordan Spieth had trouble in both rounds of The Players Championship 2024. He shot 74 in the opening round and 72 in the second round to finish with a score of 2-over par. He finished below the projected cutline of 1-under par.

The second round of The Players Championship on Friday was suspended and will resume at 7:40 a.m. ET on Saturday, March 16. Only the golfers who finish above the cut line will compete in the last two weekend rounds.

Jordan Spieth struggled with his game in the tournament's opening round when he shot 74. He started the game with a bogey on the tenth hole followed by a birdie on the next. He added two birdies and two bogeys on the front nine and four bogeys, two birdies on the back nine to score 2-over par 74 in the first round.

Spieth started the second round with a birdie on the second hole, followed by a bogey on the next. On Friday, he shot five birdies, three bogeys, and a double bogey to score even par 72 and finished in a tie for 94th place. He probably will not compete in the last two rounds of the event.