Michael Kim has defended Rory McIlroy after the Northern Irishman was handed a two-shot penalty during the first round of the Abu Dhabi Aldar Championship on Thursday.

It initially appeared that McIlroy was going to kick off the first playoff event on the DP World Tour with an opening round of 68 at Yas Links, leaving him ahead of both Eugenio Chacarra and Patrick Reed.

However, it turned out that McIlroy was handed a two-shot penalty after an incident on the 12th hole.

McIlroy initially went over the green with his approach. He subsequently failed to find the putting surface with his first chip, with the ball rolling back towards his feet and into the divot.

Television cameras then picked up McIlroy’s club flattening some of the grass behind the ball as he prepared for his second attempt.

McIlroy insisted that he was unaware of his actions, but accepted the penalty. And someone who needs no convincing that the six-time major champion improved his lie completely accidentally is Michael Kim, with the PGA Tour player defending McIlroy on social media.

He wrote: ‘There are certain players I won’t question their golf integrity. Rory is one of those. He once gave himself a worse lie after a fan picked up his ball. This is a non issue (with Rory anyway)‘.

The rule change golf needs to make after Rory McIlroy’s penalty in Abu Dhabi

With McIlroy using a wedge, there is a very good chance that he did not even see the grass moving under his club. It is hard to imagine that he would have felt it.

But perhaps the authorities do need to look at changing the rule when it comes to grounding a club when not in the fairway.

A number of players have been accused of suspicious actions over the years, with perhaps the most famous incidents in recent months concerning Wyndham Clark at the US Open and Bryson DeChambeau at The Open Championship.

It would surely help if a rule was introduced that meant that players could not touch the grass or the ground in the rough until they are addressing the ball and about to take a shot.

Once that club drops, the player cannot change the club because they have realised the lie is worse than they initially thought. There has to be a greater penalty for missing the fairway.

If McIlroy went into that situation knowing that he could not touch the ground or the grass until he is locked in to hit the shot, he may still be able to make the lie slightly easier with his takeaway. However, he would not have the opportunity to assess the lie he had left himself with.

In Kim’s mind, McIlroy did not intentionally break the rules. But his final comment shows that there is a problem within the game that still needs to be addressed.