PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland – Rory McIlroy gave the home fans plenty to cheer about Saturday at The Open.
He also left them bewildered with one of the strangest occurrences he could ever remember.
Fortunate to draw a clean lie after a wild drive to the right of the 12th fairway, McIlroy smashed down on his short iron from 151 yards away, looking to pick up another birdie. Concerned about the possibility of a flier, he glanced upward after impact and was stunned to see his shot fluttering into the wind, about to come up well short of the green.
That’s when another ball popped up out of the turf and dropped behind him.
McIlroy looked at the crowd and caddie Harry Diamond in confusion. Then he picked up the extra ball, inspected it and, annoyed that it may have cost him a pure strike, tossed it into the bush.
“It’s never happened to me before,” he said. “It could never happen on any other course but a links course as well. When the rough is all matted down and the balls get (buried) – it was very strange.”
McIlroy still had a chance to salvage par but hit a so-so pitch and made bogey, his first dropped shot after a torrid start that put him, for a time, just four shots off the lead.
But on the next hole, McIlroy got the stroke back – and then some – after dropping a 55-foot eagle, touching off a wild celebration behind the green from fans desperate to will him to victory about an hour from his childhood home in Holywood.
“One of the coolest moments of (my career),” he said. “It’s one of the largest roars I’ve ever heard on a golf course.”
McIlroy added one more birdie coming home, on 15, after kissing the flagstick, to sign for a 5-under 66 that was one of the best scores of the day. The rowdy third round vaulted McIlroy from joint 12th into a tie for fourth, into the penultimate group on Sunday.
“It was just constant noise, for four and a half hours,” said his playing partner, Jordan Smith. “He’s gone out there and played really well today. So fair play to him. Hopefully he can do it tomorrow.”
It’ll be a monumental task, as McIlroy enters the final round six shots behind world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler. At least he has some history in that position – that was the same deficit that McIlroy overcame to defeat Scheffler in the 2022 Tour Championship.
“He’s just so solid. He doesn’t make mistakes. He’s turned himself into a really consistent putter,” McIlroy said. “So there doesn’t seem to be any weakness there. Whenever you’re trying to chase down a guy like that, it’s hard to do. But he’s incredibly impressive.”
