Golf chiefs have admitted a huge blunder was made during the final round of the US Open, with Rory McIlroy benefitting from the error.
United States Golf Association (USGA) chief governance officer Thomas Pagel has stated that McIlroy was given an incorrect relief measurement from an embedded lie. McIlroy was entitled to free relief after his ball got lodged above a bunker, but the point of relief was "mis-identified".
As a result, McIlroy was able to continue from a slightly better position and the error could have proved crucial in the outcome of the major. However, the 34-year-old ultimately missed out on winning a fifth major by just one shot as Wyndham Clark secured a shock victory.
Although the error did not have an impact on who won the tournament, Pagel admitted to Sports Illustrated : "The nearest point of relief was mis-identified - it should have been directly behind the ball. If there's no area immediately behind the ball, you go to the nearest point in the general area.
"But if you look at where the ball was embedded, there was a grassy area below and that should have been the starting point." He continued: "His ball was 100 percent embedded. And an embedded ball not in sand is entitled to relief.
"Now Rory did everything at the discretion of the referee. In her discretion, her judgment was that the reference point for relief was to the side of the ball. And from a ruling standpoint, that's the end of the story."
Pagel also stressed that official Courtney Myhrum is "an extremely well-qualified referee and she did everything in her judgment where to operate the drop. However, after further review it was determined that there was a spot in the general area immediately behind the ball that was the reference point for relief."
Speaking after narrowly missing out on a second US Open win, McIlroy insisted he is confident of ending his nine-year major drought very soon. "I'm right there, it's such fine margins," he said.
"I have just got to keep putting myself in these positions. Sooner or later it's going to happen for me. There are a couple of things I will rue.
"The chip on 14 being one. It was really hard to get the ball close, but I hung in there and just didn't quite get the job done. I will keep coming back until I get another one."
