Why Was Rory McIlroy Granted Free Relief At The US Open?

Going down the stretch of the US Open on Sunday, the battle between Wyndham Clark and Rory McIlroy was heating up with both men fighting it out for the third men's Major of the year.

It's no secret that golf is a game of inches and, at the 14th hole at Los Angeles Country Club, that was exactly the case when, after he pushed his third shot, McIlroy was granted relief from a plugged lie in the rough just above the bunker. 

Although he failed to get up-and-down, the bogey was a lot better than what could have possibly transpired, but the mistake did mean he dropped two back of Clark at the time, with the American safely in the fairway.

So, why was McIlroy given free relief from the edge of the bunker? Well, the reason is due to the ball being embedded in a general area. Essentially, the ball was resting in its own pitch mark and, after marking it with a tee and identifying it, he was able to move the ball one club length no nearer the hole.

This does raise the question though of what is a general area? So, a general area is all areas of the course aside from bunkers, penalty areas, which used to be known as hazards, the putting green of the hole you're playing and the teeing area that you start from.

What McIlroy did was perfectly reasonable, especially with a rules official on site and, although he was able to take a drop into the rough next to the green, it was still a difficult up-and-down. Consequently, after his chip didn't grab, he was faced with a lengthy par putt that didn't drop.

The last point worth noting on the matter is that there is no free relief when your ball is embedded in sand in the general area away from the fairway, and if your ball is embedded in an area where playing a shot is clearly unreasonable, you do not get free relief. For example, if your ball is plugged deep inside a bush you would have to take the normal unplayable lie relief and the penalty shot that comes with that rule.