PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. — Where did Rory McIlroy’s drive bounce on the seventh hole – above or below the red line that marks the penalty area? That was the question that led to a lengthy discussion between McIlroy, who tugged his drive left at the 452-yard par 4, and his fellow competitors in his threesome, Viktor Hovland and Jordan Spieth.

There was no dispute that McIlroy’s tee shot bounced on land before finishing in the water that lines the entire left side of the hole.

Initially, McIlroy stopped walking and looked as if he intended to make his lateral drop some 300 yards from the green. That is until fans told him his ball had bounced up ahead and he moved considerably forward. When asked after the round if he saw the ball bounce, McIlroy said, “I did, yeah. It was just a matter of whether it was above the line or below, and I thought I saw it pitch above the line.”

At this point, Hovland, who had been involved with a contentious drop debate at this championship two years ago with Daniel Berger at the 16th hole, began questioning the location of McIlroy’s drop. Hovland’s caddie Shay Knight expressed his dismay with where McIlroy was planning to drop.

“I 100 percent disagree,” he said. “They should be dropping back by the turtles (situated near where McIlroy was originally considering dropping).”

Rory McIlroy, Jordan Spieth and Viktor Hovland discuss McIlroy's drop on No. 7.

Rory makes double bogey to move from solo leader to T2. pic.twitter.com/dkV6a5Q22W

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) March 14, 2024

McIlroy requested a rules official, who explained the video available was inconclusive.

“We have no evidence, so you guys have to go with what you saw,” said John Mutch, the rules official on the scene. The volunteers on the hole also failed to get a good look at where the ball crossed or landed.

“I’m comfortable that it crossed some land, but I don’t know where it actually pitched. I have no idea,” said Spieth, who entered the chat after Hovland to make sure McIlroy didn’t take a wrong drop.

“I agree,” said McIlroy, who was “pretty certain” his ball landed above the red line and then bounced into the water. “I would say I’m probably dropping it slightly back of where the ball kicked in. I’m sort of trying to split the difference.”

“I think it pitched above the red line, but we’re not certain so I’m trying to be safe,” McIlroy said, adding that he’s “pretty comfortable” with what he saw.

Spieth told McIlroy and his caddie “that everyone is saying it landed below the line.”

McIlroy replied, “Who’s everyone?”

The standoff continued. In all, the debate over McIlroy’s drop at No. 7 lasted more than 5 minutes. Neither Spieth nor Hovland stopped to talk to reporters after the round.

Earlier, McIlroy had hit his tee shot into the water at 18 and some might have thought he should’ve re-teed from the tee box and not where he did at 166 yards.

“I feel like I’m one of the most conscientious golfers out here, so if I feel like I’ve done something wrong, it’ll play on my conscience for the rest of the tournament. I’m a big believer in karma, and if you do something wrong, I feel like it’s going to come around and bite you at some point,” McIlroy said. “I obviously don’t try to do anything wrong out there, and play by the rules and do the right thing. I feel like I obviously did that those two drops.”

McIlroy made his compromise drop (within two club lengths) using his best judgment based on the testimony of Hovland and Spieth. From 207 yards away from the seventh hole, McIlroy advanced his third shot to just short of the green, pitched 10 feet past the hole and missed the putt for a double bogey.

Everybody did their job right here IMO and everything was according to the book… nobody had a definitive view of flight of the ball, but it did bounce high enough to be seen from the camera angle, which suggests that it did hit above the line. The Tour Cast view of it can’t be… https://t.co/2PZM5J5TD8

— Brandel Chamblee (@chambleebrandel) March 14, 2024

Asked after the round if he found it awkward to have Spieth dispute his drop, McIlroy said, “I think Jordan was just trying to make sure that I was doing the right thing. I mean, I was pretty sure that my ball had crossed where I was sort of dropping it. It’s so hard, right, because there was no TV evidence. I was adamant. But I think, again, he was just trying to make sure that I was going to do the right thing.

“If anything, I was being conservative with it. I think at the end of the day we’re all trying to protect ourselves, protect the field, as well. I wouldn’t say it was needless. I think he was just trying to make sure that what happened was the right thing.”

Golf Channel’s Brandel Chamblee posted on social media that “everybody did their job and everything was according to the book.”

McIlroy noted that as Hovland and Spieth voiced their concern that his ball bounced below the red line and he should drop farther back, he began to “doubt myself a little bit.”

“I was like, OK, did I actually see what I thought I saw,” McIlroy said. “But I mean, as long as — I was comfortable, and I was just making sure that Jordan and Viktor were comfortable, too. It is a bit of a blind spot. I think the best view was from the tee, which was the view that we had.”

“I’m comfortable,” he added of a situation that seemed to be as clear as mud. “I think that’s the most important thing.”