Why Rory McIlroy Was Two Seconds Away From A Penalty Stroke At The Valero Texas Open
The World No.2 narrowly avoided a penalty stroke at the Valero Texas Open after his ball was overhanging the hole before dropping just in time


Rory McIlroy avoided a penalty stroke by the skin of his teeth on day one at the Valero Texas Open.
His birdie putt from 13ft on the 600+ yard par 5 8th hole hung on the edge of the hole and it looked like he may be in risk of a penalty stroke just as Austin Eckroat recently received at the Players Championship.
However, his ball luckily dropped into the cup on the nine-second mark, meaning it counted as holed. Had it fallen in two seconds later, he would have breached the 10-second rule and been forced to add a stroke to his scorecard.
Watch McIlroy's birdie putt:
Rory McIlroy's putt eventually drops after NINE seconds! ⏱️😲 pic.twitter.com/4TX3iVgf9cApril 5, 2024
"I backed off the ball twice because of the wind. I could feel the wind at my back, so I'm like do I play the wind, do I not play the wind? 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," he explained after his opening 69 at TPC San Antonio.
"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."
McIlroy also discussed his recent trip to Las Vegas to see legendary coach Butch Harmon.
"What I'm working on or what I've been trying to do the last couple weeks is no different than what I've been trying to do previously, he just sort of gave me a different way to do it," he said.
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McIlroy makes his ninth start of 2024 in Texas ahead of The Masters next week
"That's sort of the - you know, you could tell someone five different things and like for the same feel - like to a piece of a swing, but sometimes none of them resonated, sometimes all of them, sometimes one thing.
"It's just one of those things over the past few months that nothing was resonating with me. He gave me a tiny little something that I went with and, as I said, it's felt a little better over the last two weeks and felt pretty good out there."
Ball overhanging the hole rule:
Rule 13.3a: Waiting Time to See If Ball Overhanging Hole Will Fall into Hole
If any part of a player’s ball overhangs the lip of the hole:
- The player is allowed a reasonable time to reach the hole and ten more seconds to wait to see whether the ball will fall into the hole.
- If the ball falls into the hole in this waiting time, the player has holed out with the previous stroke.
If the ball does not fall into the hole in this waiting time:
- The ball is treated as being at rest.
- If the ball then falls into the hole before it is played, the player has holed out with the previous stroke, but gets one penalty stroke added to the score for the hole.Empty list

Elliott Heath is our News Editor and has been with Golf Monthly since early 2016 after graduating with a degree in Sports Journalism. He manages the Golf Monthly news team as well as our large Facebook, X and Instagram pages. He covered the 2022 and 2025 Masters from Augusta National and was there by the 18th green to watch Rory McIlroy complete the career grand slam. He has also covered five Open Championships on-site including the 150th at St Andrews. His first Open was in 2017 at Royal Birkdale, when he walked inside the ropes with Jordan Spieth during the Texan's memorable Claret Jug triumph. He has played 35 of our Top 100 golf courses, with his favourites being both Sunningdales, Woodhall Spa, Western Gailes, Old Head and Turnberry. He has been obsessed with the sport since the age of 8 and currently plays off of a six handicap. His golfing highlights are making albatross on the 9th hole on the Hotchkin Course at Woodhall Spa, shooting an under-par round, playing in the Aramco Team Series on the Ladies European Tour and making his one and only hole-in-one at the age of 15 - a long time ago now!
Elliott is currently playing:
Driver: Titleist TSR4
3 wood: Titleist TSi2
Hybrids: Titleist 816 H1
Irons: Mizuno MP5 5-PW
Wedges: Cleveland RTX ZipCore 50, 54, 58
Putter: Odyssey White Hot OG #5
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