Rory McIlroy blunder highlights a growing problem in golf

Careless cost McIlroy a top golf title and he’ll need to learn from the mistake.

Rory McIlroy thinks he was unlucky not to win last week’s Abu Dhabi Championship. He felt he was undone by one of golf’s ‘stupid’ rules. But he was let down by ignorance of one of the most basic.

Golfers at all levels are confronted with GUR (Ground Under Repair) rulings virtually every time they play. That’s what Rory faced in Abu Dhabi and he failed to go through the correct procedure and take the appropriate drop.

He’s been playing tournament golf for years and he’ll have faced that rule a lot, so his attitude about the incident left a lot be desired.

He wasn’t unlucky, he was careless. And he was fortunate that his mistake didn’t cost him a disqualification. For that he can thank Dave Renwick, who was caddying for playing partner, Ricardo Gonzalez of Argentina, when the incident occured.

Dave caddied for me many years ago and knows the rules inside out. He thought something was wrong and was compelled to say something.

If Rory had carried on and then signed a wrong scorecard, he would have been disqualified amid much embarrassment. As it was, it cost him two shots and he finished second, just one behind winner Pablo Larrazabal, and he could still reflect on a positive start to his year. But this incident and the one with Tiger Woods at last year’s Masters when he dropped the ball in the wrong place are worrying.

They suggest that the top players are not as well versed on the rules as they should be. Jack Nicklaus always prided himself on knowing them as well as the referees. He was a great advocate of the rules being there to help, and not hinder, the players.

When you swap scorecards at the start of the round, I was taught you were taking on the role of ‘refereeing’ your playing partner. Sadly, that attitude has now disappeared.

Too many players are stuck in their own bubble, oblivious to what else is happening on the course. If they paid more attention, there wouldn’t be a call for a rules official to follow every group in every event.

Golf is a self-policing sport. We don’t want it to become like football where a referee is needed for every decision. What happened with Rory makes golf look a little bit silly, and gives the idea our rules are too complicated. They’re not.

Most of them are very logical and it’s down to the players to use them correctly. The two-shot penalty cost Rory a prestigious title, but hopefully he won’t make the same mistake if he’s in a similar situation in a Major.