McIlroy responds to 'cheating' allegations as Bhatia hits the front | Texas Open R1

A number of golf fans might be up in arms over the length of time Rory McIlroy took for his ball to drop on the 8th hole in the first round of the Texas Open, but the Northern Irishman has confirmed the wind blew his ball down well within the 10-second rule. 

McIlroy sent his 13-footer for birdie on the 8th over the edge of the cup. 

The World No.2 paused, took a couple of steps forward, paused some more, and then trudged towards the cup as his 10 seconds began.

According to the official Rule 13.3, "if any part of your ball overhangs the lip of the hole, you are allowed a reasonable time to reach the hole and 10 more seconds to wait to see whether your ball will fall into the hole."

As McIlroy was up by the hole, his ball eventually went down.

WATCH WHAT HAPPENED HERE

Living on the edge 

A buzzer beater birdie from @McIlroyRory! pic.twitter.com/serAdvq5Wg

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) April 4, 2024

After the round, McIlroy said: 

"When I ended up hitting the putt, there wasn't really a ton of wind there and I thought I missed it on the left side. Obviously the ball hung on the edge and I was just hoping for a gust of wind to come to blow it in and thankfully it did before the 10-second mark."

Only a number of armchair fans on social media believe McIlroy 'cheated' the rules and took much longer than 10 seconds.

However, McIlroy was deemed to have played well within the 10-second rule, and his birdie-four went down on the card.

Check out the thread on the PGA Tour clip below to see what fans are saying about it all. 

A similar incident unfolded during The Players Championship last month, but Austin Eckroat was deemed to have taken too long. 

McIlroy ended up carding a flawless 3-under 69 to move into early contention for a first Texas Open title. 

He birdied the 2nd, 8th and 17th to move into the top 10 after the opening round. 

The Northern Irishman was unfortunate not to take it to 4-under par for the round as his birdie chip lipped out on the 18th.

McIlroy ended up dropping his club into the bunker as he watched on in disbelief.

In-form American Akshay Bhatia raced to the top of the board with a flawless 9-under 63. 

Bhatia, 22, went out in 32 and returned in 31 in a back nine that saw him birdie five of the last seven holes. 

It marks the low round of Bhatia's season. 

The leader showing off his touch around the greens.@AkshayBhatia_1 leads by two @ValeroTXOpen. pic.twitter.com/jvtAv102Nd

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) April 4, 2024

He holds a three-shot lead over Justin Lower and Brendon Todd.

Max Homa returned to form with a 68. 

VIEW FULL R1 SCORES HERE

Jordan Spieth did not have his best stuff out there in his home state, but he did hit the shot of the day with an ace on the par-3 16th. 

It marked the fourth hole-in-one of Spieth's PGA Tour career. 

WATCH SPIETH'S HOLE-IN-ONE HERE

SPIETH ACE @JordanSpieth makes a hole-in-one on the 199-yard par-3 16th hole @ValeroTXOpen.

(Presented by @CocaCola) pic.twitter.com/kHZKIxKiIZ

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) April 4, 2024

What do you make of the time taken for McIlroy to get up to the cup on the 8th? Did he take longer than 10 seconds or was he okay? Share your thoughts on the GolfMagic social media channels.

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