Rory McIlroy grabs the driver and then almost achieves the unthinkable
Rory McIlroy grabbed his driver on the 9th hole. He then almost managed a birdie.
NBC Sports
It has not been a good week for one of Rory McIlroy’s metal woods.
On Friday at the BMW Championship, McIlroy vented his frustration on his 3-wood, awkwardly throwing it into the water after missing a fairway on the par-5 17th hole before eventually retrieving it and continuing play.
On Sunday, after what he had done to it, he was unable to continue playing with his driver.
The world number three reached the ninth hole at Castle Pines four under par and nine behind the leader when, just like on the 17th two days earlier, he blocked his tee shot to the right. He noticed it immediately because he let go of his hand on the club and swung it backwards in frustration.
Rory McIlroy throws club into water after missed shot
Jessica Marksbury
The ball landed on a hill and bounced off the rocks several times before landing dangerously over a stream that lines the long par 4.
But that was only the first of his problems at number 9.
As McIlroy bent down to reach his tee, he put too much weight on his driver and the shaft broke.
NBC commentators initially assumed that McIlroy had simply made a mistake and accidentally broke the club. However, when McIlroy never made an attempt to replace the club, it became clear that McIlroy had broken the club out of anger.
Rule 4.1a(2) states: “If a conforming club is damaged during a round or during a stoppage of play under Rule 5.7a, the player may, except in cases of misuse, repair it or replace it with another club.” The “except in cases of misuse” applies here because McIlroy must have admitted to breaking the club in anger, which prevented him from replacing it.
But first, McIlroy had to play hole 9. His ball was just above the stream on the right bank, which meant that as a right-hander he had to go into the stream to hit it.
He took off his shoes, rolled up his trouser legs and stepped into the stream.
McIlroy initially entered the water clubless, with caddie Harry Diamond standing by to hand his boss his weapon of choice. McIlroy had 137 yards uphill and downwind to play, meaning it would be difficult to stop the ball on the flat green.
Eventually, Diamond handed McIlroy a club as the four-time major winner tried to find his footing in the flowing water. After about 65 seconds, he landed with his front foot on a rock while his back foot was underwater.
Finally, McIlroy swung, mostly with his upper body, and let the ball fly. It landed just behind the pin, baffling the commentators. It landed 27 feet from the hole.
“How about the shot?”
“Really?”
“This must have been pending for a long time.”
NBC cameras continued to follow McIlroy as he put his socks back on, but then walked up to the green before putting his shoes back on.
A few minutes later, the feed returned to McIlroy, who was back on dry land, feet in his Nikes, ready to hit the birdie putt.
It ran exactly down the middle, but stopped ten centimeters short of it.
McIlroy collapsed with a sigh of frustration.
“The way a golfer thinks, he’s going to be mad that he didn’t make a birdie,” Curt Byrum said.
