{"id":8457,"date":"2025-07-20T13:03:05","date_gmt":"2025-07-20T13:03:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/8457\/"},"modified":"2025-07-20T13:03:05","modified_gmt":"2025-07-20T13:03:05","slug":"most-weird-ridiculous-thing-rory-mcilroy-reacts-to-invisible-ball-incident-that-left-everyone-stunned-at-the-open","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/8457\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Most weird, ridiculous thing’ – Rory McIlroy reacts to invisible ball incident that left everyone stunned at The Open"},"content":{"rendered":"

Someone, somewhere is celebrating the recovery of a golf ball they thought was lost forever at Portrush.<\/p>\n

And they owe a serious debt of gratitude to Rory McIlroy<\/a> after he discovered the lost ball in the most bizarre manner possible at this year’s Open Championship.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"McIlroy<\/a><\/p>\n

4<\/p>\n

McIlroy pulled off perhaps the most bizarre golf shot of all timeCredit: AFP via Getty<\/p>\n

The Northern Irishman found himself in the rough following an errant effort off the tee on the 11th hole and looked to get on the green with a tidy approach shot.<\/p>\n

But the moment he struck his own ball, a second one embedded beneath the surface emerged out of nowhere.<\/p>\n

McIlroy had a perplexed look on his face as he knelt down to pick up the second ball and showed it off to the crowd.<\/p>\n

“That has got to be a first, hasn’t it?” Sir Nick Faldo said on commentary for Sky Sports. “What are the odds of that? This is unbelievable.<\/p>\n

“He was very fortunate to miss the burns but lands on an old golf ball. What a story.”<\/p>\n

McIlroy said after his round: “What happened on 11, my ball came out so strange. 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.<\/p>\n

“I obviously had no idea there was a ball anywhere close to my ball.<\/p>\n

“The most weird, ridiculous thing I’ve ever seen. It’s never happened to me before.<\/p>\n

“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.<\/p>\n

Amid the craziness, McIlroy’s ball landed short of the green and left him in a tricky spot.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

4<\/p>\n

The Northern Irishman somehow unearthed a ball that wasn’t his…Credit: AFP via Getty\"And<\/a><\/p>\n

4<\/p>\n

And could barely believe the discoveryCredit: AFP via Getty<\/p>\n

He ultimately recorded his first bogey of the third round.<\/p>\n

However, McIlroy immediately rebounded with a scintillating eagle on the 12th.<\/p>\n

A 362-yard drive set McIlroy up perfectly and followed that up with a brilliant 174-yard strike that got him onto the green. <\/p>\n

But it was his remarkable 56-foot putt that sent the crowd at Portrush into raptures.<\/p>\n

“It has been a long time since he made a birdie,” Rich Beem said on Sky Sports.<\/p>\n

“He was in a drought, he needed one there and he got that eagle.<\/p>\n

“How do the fans feel about it? Are they excited? I’d say yes!”<\/p>\n

McIlroy began his third round in dominant fashion as he recorded an impressive three birdies from the opening four holes.<\/p>\n

But the Northern Irishman, who has not won The Open in a decade, could not build on his early momentum as he recorded a par on every hole from the fifth to the 10th.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

4<\/p>\n

A stunning putt to secure an eagle kept McIlroy in with a shout at PortrushCredit: Getty<\/p>\n

On the back nine, McIlroy managed another birdie following his eagle which helped him finish with a score of five-under for the third round and eight-under for the tournament.<\/p>\n

McIlroy’s scintillating display on Saturday helped him rise eight places in the leaderboard, although he ended his round six strokes behind leader Scottie Scheffler.<\/p>\n

And the Masters champion accepts even his considerable talents may not be enough to reel in the gap to world number one Scheffler on the final day at Portrush.<\/p>\n

“It was incredible, it was so much fun. I got off to the perfect start, three-under through four,” he said.<\/p>\n

“To play those last seven holes at three-under I thought was a good effort. I played well, I rode my luck at times, but I feel like I’ve at least given myself half a chance tomorrow.<\/p>\n

“But 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.<\/p>\n

“He’s just so solid. He doesn’t make mistakes. He’s turned himself into a really consistent putter as well so there doesn’t seem to be any weakness there.<\/p>\n

“Whenever you’re trying to chase down a guy like that, it’s hard to do. But he’s incredibly impressive.”<\/p>\n

To take his mind off Scheffler, McIlroy will return to the three-hour epic Oppenheimer on Saturday night.<\/p>\n

“I started Oppenheimer last night and I’ll try to get through another hour of it tonight and maybe finish it tomorrow morning,” he added.<\/p>\n

“Apart from that, just keep my mind off of things. I always do better with distraction so if I can just distract myself and get my mind on something else that’s always a good plan for me.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Someone, somewhere is celebrating the recovery of a golf ball they thought was lost forever at Portrush. And…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8458,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[10317,10318,64,63,9232,755,1745,10320,10319,756,10316,85,1749,4126],"class_list":{"0":"post-8457","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-11th-hole","9":"tag-12th-hole","10":"tag-au","11":"tag-australia","12":"tag-eagle-putt","13":"tag-golf","14":"tag-golf-news","15":"tag-latest","16":"tag-reaction","17":"tag-rory-mcilroy","18":"tag-second-ball","19":"tag-sports","20":"tag-the-open-championship","21":"tag-updates"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8457","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8457"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8457\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}