{"id":22719,"date":"2025-07-20T01:24:03","date_gmt":"2025-07-20T01:24:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/22719\/"},"modified":"2025-07-20T01:24:03","modified_gmt":"2025-07-20T01:24:03","slug":"mcilroy-digs-in-to-unearth-oddball-open-surprise-and-half-chance-at-late-title-tilt-the-open","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/22719\/","title":{"rendered":"McIlroy digs in to unearth oddball Open surprise and \u2018half-chance\u2019 at late title tilt | The Open"},"content":{"rendered":"

Deep into day three of the Open and Rory McIlroy<\/a> is still surfing gigantic waves of momentum and goodwill. He has jumped to six under, at this point only four shots off the lead, with each birdie sounding like a sonic boom over Portrush. It is manic, messianic and a lot of fun. And then it gets weird. Twilight Zone weird.<\/p>\n

McIlroy has just twirled a drive into the rough at the 11th. For a moment he fears that his ball is lost, only to get the all clear from the marshal. Better still, he will be playing from trampled-down ground. He pauses. Takes aim. And then as his ball flops wearily into air, a member\u2019s Titleist ball, which has been deeply buried under ground, suddenly jumps up beside him.<\/p>\n

McIlroy smiles in disbelief before telling his caddy: \u201cI was on a golf ball!\u201d<\/p>\n

An old golf ball (in the centre of frame) is unearthed by Rory McIlroy during his shot. Photograph: Andy Buchanan\/AFP\/Getty ImagesWhat are the chances?! Photograph: Andy Buchanan\/AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s never happened to me before,\u201d he says later. \u201cJust a really weird \u2013 I had obviously no idea there was a ball anywhere close to my ball.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was so, 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

It costs McIlroy a bogey five, and to add further insult he hears the roars signifying that Scottie Scheffler has just moved to 12 under par, seven shots clear of his score. But after the cruel comes the divine.<\/p>\n

McIlroy is now on the 12th, about to caress a 56-foot eagle putt down the slope, right to left. It trundles steadily along before appearing to lose pace 10 feet from the hole. \u201cIt\u2019s gotta go,\u201d says the man from Golf<\/a> Digest, crouching just off the green. And it does. Only to slow down again. \u201cIt\u2019s gotta go,\u201d he says again.<\/p>\n

The roars tell you what happens next. The ball disappears down the hole. And suddenly fans are jumping. Many throw their hands in the air. There are cries of \u201cRory! Rory!\u201d. He is now seven under and beaming.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe eagle on 12 was one of the coolest moments of my career \u2013 it\u2019s one of the largest roars I\u2019ve ever heard on a golf course,\u201d he says later. \u201cTo get those shots back straight away was nice.\u201d<\/p>\n

The crowds surrounding McIlroy were so deep throughout the third round that many supporters were forced to rely on secondary senses to work out what was going on. The frequent eruptions from the galleries. The urgent cries of encouragement. And, especially in the first few holes, the smell that something mystical might be in the air.<\/p>\n

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No wonder people were getting excited, especially after McIlroy made birdies on the 1st, 2nd and 4th. But then chances went begging. The 375-yard par-four 5th has been one of the easiest holes all week. But after a booming drive into the light rough, McIlroy was unable to get up and down for birdie. While on the par-five 7th, which had a scoring average of 4.53 on the day, another chance slipped by.<\/p>\n

Still, another birdie at the 15th left the Northern Irishman signing for a 66 and tied for fourth on eight under. He is six shots behind Scheffler. But he is still hoping for a miracle.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was incredible,\u201d he said of the atmosphere. \u201cIt was so much fun. I got off to the perfect start, three under [on the day] through 4. Felt like at the end of the front nine there, at least through 11, the par on 7 felt like a bogey, and then the bogey on 11.<\/p>\n

\u201cThen to play those last seven holes at three under I thought was a good effort. Yeah, I played well. I rode my luck at times, but it was an incredible atmosphere out there. I feel like I\u2019ve at least given myself half a chance tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n

The same could not be said for the champion here six years ago, Shane Lowry, who shot a three-over-par 74 and then revealed he had been up most of the night with a stomach bug. \u201cI\u2019m not great,\u201d he says. \u201cI haven\u2019t eaten today yet. I tried to get a protein drink down me after eight holes, and I felt like throwing up all over the place. Yeah, it\u2019s been a tough day, but I\u2019m not going to make excuses. I played poorly today and obviously had a bad finish.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lowry, who is now three over for the tournament, adds: \u201cYou get home late and have to dust yourself off and wake up at 2.30am with cramps in my stomach. \u201c<\/p>\n

McIlroy will hope for a smoother night before the mayhem begins again. \u201cI started Oppenheimer last night,\u201d he says. \u201cTry to get through another hour of it tonight and maybe finish it tomorrow morning.\u201d<\/p>\n

He knows, though, that the way Scheffler is playing, it would take something out of a Hollywood movie to defeat him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Deep into day three of the Open and Rory McIlroy is still surfing gigantic waves of momentum and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":22720,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[71],"tags":[427,99],"class_list":["post-22719","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-golf","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22719","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22719"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22719\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/22720"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22719"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22719"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22719"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}