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The 42
19-07-2025
- Sport
- The 42
'It was very strange' - McIlroy's wild third round at the Open features bizarre two-ball trick
RORY MCILROY ADMITTED a moment on the 11th hole of his third round at the Open Championship was one of the strangest moments he has ever encountered on a golf course. McIlroy shot an electrifying 66 that featured one bogey – on the 11th – and that dropped shot was preceded by a bizarre moment in which he seemed to hit two balls at once. McIlroy's tee shot went wide right and landed in the rough, and when he played his second shot, the follow-through kicked up a long-buried ball beneath the long grass. The ball kicked up and hit his foot, at which point he looked down in bafflement, picked up the ball and looked at it in amazement, and then tossed it away. Advertisement Have you ever seen anything like this?! 😂 — Fried Egg Golf (@fried_egg_golf) July 19, 2025 'My ball came out so strange, like I thought I was going to get a flier, and I looked up at my ball and I could see it spinning up against the wind', said McIlroy. 'Just a really weird. . . I had obviously no idea there was a ball anywhere close to my ball. 'It's never happened to me before. 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 – it was very strange.' McIlroy came to life on moving day, opening birdie-birdie-par-birdie before his momentum stalled with agonising missed putts on five and seven. He followed his bogey on 11 with his best moment of the day: a snaking, 55-foot putt for eagle on the 12th hole. 'The eagle on 12 was one of the coolest moments. It's one of the largest roars I've ever heard on a golf course. So that was a really cool moment. To get those shots back straight away was nice, and I felt like I played the last few holes really solid and picked one up coming in, which was good.' A 66 was good by anyone's measure. . . aside from Scottie Scheffler, who shot an unerring four-under par to take a three shot lead into the final day. McIlroy, having started seven back, ultimately made up only a single shot on Scheffler. 'I rode my luck at times, but yeah, it was an incredible atmosphere out there. I feel like I've at least given myself half a chance tomorrow. 'He's playing like Scottie. I don't think it's a surprise. Everyone's seen the way he's played or plays over the last two or three years. He's just so solid. He doesn't make mistakes. It looked like he could have made bogey on 14 there. 'He's turned himself into a really consistent putter as well. 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.'
The Irish Sun
19-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Irish Sun
Baffled Rory McIlroy hits TWO balls with ONE shot in incredible never-seen-before incident at The Open
RORY MCILROY incredibly hit TWO balls with one shot in never-before-seen scenes at The Open. The Northern Irishman, 36, made a stunning start to his third round at Portrush with three birdies in his opening four holes. Advertisement 2 Rory McIlroy hit two balls with one shot on the 11th hole Credit: Sky Sports 2 He picked up the rogue ball that had been lost in the thick grass Credit: Sky Sports But on the par-4 11th hole, he somehow managed the bizarre feat. McIlroy's drive drifted right of the fairway and landed in the heavy rough. He played his second shot attempting to get it on the green. But as he whacked his ball out of the thick grass, a second ball popped up from the undergrowth. Advertisement READ MORE ON THE OPEN The rogue ball had been plugged in the grass and lost for goodness knows how long. It then dropped in front of McIlroy and rolled into his foot as he watched his actual ball fly towards the green. He looked down to see the unlikely intruder sitting there. A baffled McIlroy picked up the ball and held it up to the crowd and his caddie. Advertisement Most read in Golf CASINO SPECIAL - BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS He said: 'I was on a golf ball.' McIlroy then tossed the second ball into a bush. Watch English golf star John Parry nail amazing first hole in one of The Open sparking wild celebrations on tee box Unfortunately, he went on to drop a shot and record his first bogey of the round. Advertisement But McIlroy bounced back on the next hole to sink an eagle. Golf fans on social media were all talking about the freak incident.
Scottish Sun
19-07-2025
- Sport
- Scottish Sun
Baffled Rory McIlroy hits TWO balls with ONE shot in incredible never-seen-before incident at The Open
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) RORY MCILROY incredibly hit TWO balls with one shot in never-before-seen scenes at The Open. The Northern Irishman, 36, made a stunning start to his third round at Portrush with three birdies in his opening four holes. Sign up for Scottish Sun newsletter Sign up 2 Rory McIlroy hit two balls with one shot on the 11th hole Credit: Sky Sports 2 He picked up the rogue ball that had been lost in the thick grass Credit: Sky Sports But on the par-4 11th hole, he somehow managed the bizarre feat. McIlroy's drive drifted right of the fairway and landed in the heavy rough. He played his second shot attempting to get it on the green. But as he whacked his ball out of the thick grass, a second ball popped up from the undergrowth. READ MORE ON THE OPEN PARRY PARTY English golf ace nails epic first hole in one of Open sparking wild celebration The rogue ball had been plugged in the grass and lost for goodness knows how long. It then dropped in front of McIlroy and rolled into his foot as he watched his actual ball fly towards the green. He looked down to see the unlikely intruder sitting there. A baffled McIlroy picked up the ball and held it up to the crowd and his caddie. CASINO SPECIAL - BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS He said: 'I was on a golf ball.' McIlroy then tossed the second ball into a bush. Watch English golf star John Parry nail amazing first hole in one of The Open sparking wild celebrations on tee box Unfortunately, he went on to drop a shot and record his first bogey of the round. But McIlroy bounced back on the next hole to sink an eagle. Golf fans on social media were all talking about the freak incident.
The 42
17-07-2025
- Sport
- The 42
McIlroy battles against driver issues but puts himself in the mix at Open
RORY MCILROY OVERCAME consistent problems off the tee to post a one-under round of 70 to leave himself firmly in the mix of the 153rd Open Championship at Royal Portrush. In spite of one of the worst off-the-tee performances of his major career, McIlroy lies just three shots off the lead at the end of the first day's play. The lead is shared by Jakub Olesen, Haotong Li, Matt Fitzpatrick, Christiaan Bezuidenhout, and Harris English. Having infamously gone out of bounds with his first tee shot during the 2019 Open at Portrush, McIlroy again sent his first shot down the left, though this time it bounced into the rough and remained in play. He made bogey on the first, but bounced back with a birdie on the par-five second. McIlroy struggled off the tee all day, battling a consistent left miss and hitting just none of his first five fairways and just two of 14 overall. It was his joint-moist inaccurate driving round in his major career, and he ranked second-last among the field for driving accuracy. Some majestic irons and steely putts on slow greens kept him in the mix, however, with birdies on five, seven and 10 moving him to within one shot of the lead. From there, however, he began leaking oil, hooking his tee shot into thick rough on 11 and though he managed to scramble himself into position to save a par on the toughest hole on the course, he missed his putt from 11 feet. More galling was a three-putt bogey on the par-five 12th. He dropped another shot on 14 to fall back to even par. He missed fairways on 15 and 17, though left the latter within 12 feet thanks to an approach that made more intelligent use of the contours around the green. McIlroy poured in his fifth birdie of the day to get back under par. He left a birdie putt just shy of the hole on the last to close with an under-par round of 70. 'It was good. I had it going three-under through 10 and let a few slip there around the middle of the round', said McIlroy. 'I steadied the ship well, played the last four at one-under, and it was nice to shoot under par. 'I felt like, once we turned for home – like played 10 and turned back and played 11 – the wind picked up a little bit, and it just became that little bit more difficult. Advertisement 'It was a tough enough day, especially either chopping out of the rough or out of the fairway bunkers most of the time. So to shoot under par was a good effort. 'I'm surprised four-under is leading. I thought someone might have gone out there and shot six or seven today. Only three back with 54 holes to go, I'm really happy with where I am.' McIlroy was surrounded by enormous galleries everywhere he went, and said with some understatement that he dealt with their attendant expectation better than he did in 2019. 'Look, I feel the support of an entire country out there, which is a wonderful position to be in, but at the same time, you don't want to let them down. So there's that little bit of added pressure. 'I felt like I dealt with it really well today. Certainly dealt with it better than I did six years ago. I was just happy to get off to a good start and get myself into the tournament.' Elsewhere, Bryson DeChambeau struggled with the links' challenge, carding his worst opening round at a major championship with a seven-over round of 78, leaving him in a major battle to make the cut. DeChambeau's playing partners fared better, with Justin Rose battling to a bogey-free, two-under round of 69, while Robert MacIntyre shot even-par. Elsewhere among the late wave, Jordan Spieth birdied two of his final four holes to claw his way back to two-over, which was also posted by his playing partners Viktor Hovland and Ludvig Aberg. Tommy Fleetwood, playing alongside McIlroy and the runner-up at Portrush in 2019, has a lot of work to do to win a first major of his career this week, posting two-over.
The 42
12-07-2025
- Sport
- The 42
McIlroy shares Scottish Open lead heading into final round after brilliant 66
RORY MCILROY PUT himself in pole position to win the Scottish Open after he carded a fine four-under par 66 at the Renaissance Club. The world number two landed five birdies, and just one bogey, to leave him on 11-under par for the tournament, and a share of the overnight lead with American Chris Gotterup. England's Matt Fitzpatrick and Marco Penge are two shots back following rounds of 69, tied for third with Americans Wyndham Clark and Jake Knapp. McIlroy landed his first birdie at the par-five third before dropping a shot at the seventh. However, he bounced back by picking up a shot on the next hole before further birdies at the 10th and par-three 14th. Advertisement The Northern Irishman appeared in slight trouble on the par-five 16th after a wayward drive ended in the deep rough. But a beautiful approach allowed him to roll in a straight uphill birdie putt. He set himself up with another birdie chance at the following par three only to see his putt sail agonisingly wide. A perfect 340-yard tee shot at the concluding hole put him in the driving seat once more, but again his birdie attempt rolled narrowly past the hole. However, McIlroy's encouraging performance – with clear signs of him being back at his best – comes at a crucial time with The Open at Royal Portrush to follow next week. It also marks a significant improvement on McIlroy's form since he won the Masters in April to complete the Grand Slam. And he said on Sky Sports: 'It is my first realistic chance to win after the Masters. 'I have had a great season but yes, and I have said this before, when you do something you that have dreamt of for your whole life, and then do it, it was a huge moment in my life and career. 'I just need that little bit of time, and to be back here for the last couple of weeks and digest all of it, I feel like I came here for this tournament with renewed enthusiasm and excitement for the rest of the year.' World number 158 Gotterup equalled the course record with nine birdies in a bogey-free 61 on Friday to start the third day two shots clear. However, he will start the final day on level terms with McIlroy following a level-par round featuring two birdies and the same number of bogeys. Meanwhile, Pádraig Harrington is on one-over after a third round of 72 which included four bogeys along with birdies on the fifth and 10th holes.
