Rory McIlroy: "The PGA Tour now tells me a volunteer STEPPED ON MY BALL!"

Rory McIlroy claims he has been sent an email from the PGA Tour informing him that a volunteer "stepped on his ball on 18" when he took free relief for an "embedded" ball in the third round of the Farmers Insurance Open. 

Social media was sent into a frenzy on Saturday night when Patrick Reed picked up his ball from the rough before a rules official had even come over to inspect the "embedded" lie, before going on to receive free relief. The same thing happened to McIlroy later in the day at 18. 

It was observed by video footage that McIlroy had done the same thing as Reed when his ball found the heavy rough to the right of the fairway on the par-5 18th. McIlroy considered his ball was "embedded" in the rough and took free relief, but unlike Reed, did not call over a rules official. 

Despite both controversial moments unfolding on Saturday, it has now come to light by a volunteer's email to the PGA Tour that McIlroy's ball had indeed been "stepped on" by the volunteer in question who was walking through the dense rough looking for his ball. 

WATCH RORY TALK ABOUT HIS EMBEDDED BALL RULING AND THE EMAIL HE HAS SINCE RECEIVED FROM THE PGA TOUR IN THE VIDEO BELOW - SKIP TO 9 MINS IN THE VIDEO TO WATCH:

@McIlroyRory meets with the media before making his @WMPhoenixOpen debut @TPCScottsdale. https://t.co/Ezd3wh3ZJ3

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 3, 2021

McIlroy, speaking ahead of this week's Phoenix Open at TPC Scottsdale, claimed that email clarification from the PGA Tour on Monday "made him feel much better" because he had been "questioning what he had seen."

"It's funny, so what's come to light is... so on 18 as we were searching for my ball, what wasn't apparent at the time, but an email has since been sent to me, was that my ball was stepped on to be found, but the volunteer didn't tell me that on Saturday, so that's why I took 'embedded' ball relief because it was an 'embedded' ball. I didn't know it had been stepped on at the time.

"So obviously the video came out on Sunday with my ball bouncing, and then going in. At that point I'm like 'well it must have gone into its own pitch mark or something' because the ball was obviously plugged. Then it came to light on Monday that a volunteer had stepped on it and hadn't told me, and that's why the ball was 'embedded'. 

"It's funny, I sort of went to bed Sunday night questioning whether I had done the right thing after having seen the video. It's so weird. The Tour got an email on Monday from a volunteer saying he didn't tell me at the time and he should have, that he stepped on the ball to find it. 

"I guess at the end of the day, I almost took wrong relief because I should have taken relief for a stepped on ball, which means you could place it instead of drop it, but at the time I didn't have that information, but at least I felt better about my actions knowing that I did the right thing and did take relief for a ball that was 'embedded' or stepped on. 

"It's sort of nice that it came to light because I was sort of questioning myself on Sunday a little bit. It's funny how these things all work out in the end."

He added: "It was a bit of a rough Sunday night. I just started to doubt myself a little bit, which is not like me, but I was convinced it was an embedded ball. It's just funny that the Tour got an email on Monday that the ball  had been stepped on, and the volunteer felt said something like 'I'm so sorry that Rory has been dragged into this scenario and that I didn't tell him on Saturday that I actually stood on his ball to find it'."

As for being "dragged into it" after Patrick Reed's Twitter account claimed "Rory McIlroy did the same thing on hole 18" on Saturday evening, McIlroy said he doesn't believe that was Reed. 

"I don't think it was Patrick," said McIlroy. "Could have been someone from the Reed family, but I don't think it was Patrick."

RELATED: REED'S TWITTER ACCOUNT TAKES AIM AT MCILROY!

McIlroy had already cleared up any wrongdoing on his part when he spoke to the media on Sunday at Torrey Pines. 

"I’ve never tried to get away with anything out here," said McIlroy, who ended up finishing tied 16th at the Farmers Insurance Open and well behind eventual winner Reed. 

"Our game is about integrity and it’s about doing the right thing. I always try to do the right thing and hopefully people see that. I feel like I have a reputation of that.

"Yesterday was one of those things that I guess Patrick and I both went on the information that we had and made those determinations. I guess people can jump to conclusions, but at the same time we were well within our rights to do what we did. My ball was certainly plugged on 18, Patrick felt his ball was plugged on 10 and we proceeded on from there."