Fans divided as Rory McIlroy waits for putt to drop with some demanding ‘one shot penalty’ for breaking rule

RORY MCILROY caused controversy at the PGA Tour with a shot that sparked debate amongst fans.

The golfer was competing on the first day of the Valero Texas Open.

AP

Rory McIlroy caused controversy at the Valero Texas Open[/caption]

The golfer paused on the green as he waited for his ball to drop into the holeX @PGATOUR

He finished the day four under par but some fans believe he should have been penalised for one of his putts.

That is because they claim McIlrory waited longer than ten seconds to take a shot after his putt had left the ball hanging on the edge of the hole.

The world number two hesitated to see if his ball would drop in without needing another touch, which it did.

One fan suggested McIlrory ought to be penalised, saying: “This should be a penalty stroke on Rory McIlroy. 10 second clock clearly expired. PGA TOUR would never penalize their golden boy ”

Another added in agreement: “It’s cheating. We all know, he saw the shadow between the ball and cup and that made it possible.”

And a third wrote: “Absolutely illegal, but the Tour won’t do anything.”

But the rules actually offer a little leeway for players who wait to see if their overhanging ball will drop into the hole.

Players are allowed a reasonable time to reach their ball and then an additional ten seconds on top of that.

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And given the ball took around 14 seconds to fall once it stopped moving, it was ruled McIlroy had not broken any rules.

If he had the Northern Irishman would have had one penalty stroke added to his score.

One fan believed McIlroy was not at fault, saying: “The 10-second timer starts after a “reasonable” amount of time to reach the hole. Assuming it took Rory one second to reach the hole after stopping, it took less than 10 seconds for the ball to fall.”

Another added: “I can’t wait for all the rules experts to chime in here.”