Rory McIlroy snapped his driver on the ninth. Then he almost made birdie.
NBC Sports activities
It hasn’t been a very good week to be one in all Rory McIlroy’s steel woods.
On Friday on the BMW Championship, McIlroy let his frustrations out on his 3-wood, sheepishly tossing it into the water after a missed fairway on the par-5 seventeenth earlier than finally fetching it to proceed play.
Sunday, there was no persevering with play together with his driver after what he did with it.
The World No. 3 got here to the ninth gap at Citadel Pines at 4 beneath for the match and a distant 9 photographs off the lead when he once more, identical to on 17 two days earlier than, blocked his tee shot out to the best. He knew instantly as he launched one hand off the membership and swung it again behind him in frustration.
The ball hit up on a hillside and took a number of bounces off the rocks earlier than settling precariously above a creek that strains the lengthy par-4.
However that may simply be the primary of his issues on No. 9.
As McIlroy bent all the way down to get his tee, he put an excessive amount of of his weight on his driver and the shaft snapped.
The NBC broadcasters initially assumed McIlroy merely made a mistake and broke the membership on accident, however when McIlroy by no means made an try to interchange the membership, it turned clear McIlroy broke the membership out of anger.
In line with rule 4.1a(2), “if a conforming membership is broken throughout a spherical or whereas play is stopped beneath Rule 5.7a, besides in circumstances of abuse, the participant might restore it or substitute it with one other membership.” The “besides in circumstances of abuse” applies right here as McIlroy will need to have admitted to breaking the membership in anger, thus thwarting his means to interchange it.
However earlier than all of that, McIlroy nonetheless needed to play in No. 9. His ball was sitting simply barely above the stream on the best financial institution, which means as a right-hander, he’d must go within the creek to hit it.
He eliminated his sneakers, rolled up his pant legs and stepped into the stream.
McIlroy went into the water with no membership at first as caddie Harry Diamond stood on the prepared to present his boss his weapon of selection. McIlroy had 137 yards up the hill and downwind, which means stopping the ball on the shallow inexperienced could be troublesome.
Finally, Diamond handed McIlroy a membership as the four-time main winner tried to discover a footing throughout the working water. After roughly 65 seconds, he settled together with his lead foot out of the water on a rock and his path foot submerged.
Lastly, McIlroy took a swing, principally pushed from the higher physique and despatched the ball flying. It got here down proper behind the pin, beautiful the broadcasters. It completed 27 ft from the opening.
“How about that shot?”
“Actually?”
“That needed to be up within the air a very long time.”
NBC’s cameras stored following McIlroy as he slipped his socks again on, however then walked up towards the inexperienced earlier than placing his sneakers again on.
A couple of minutes later, the published returned to McIlroy as he stood on dry land, ft again in his Nikes, able to hit the birdie putt.
It tracked proper within the heart, however stopped 4 inches brief.
McIlroy collapsed in a sigh of frustration.
“The way in which a golfer thinks, he’s going to be mad he didn’t make birdie,” stated Curt Byrum.
