Rory McIlroy had a sensational third round at The Open on Saturday at Royal Portrush, with the unexpected discovery of a second golf ball being the shot that may stay with him. McIlroy, 36, hit an errant drive on the 11th hole, with the ball landing where the fans stand. The ground had been trampled on throughout the last few days, so McIlroy’s ball had a decent lie. However, what McIlroy didn’t know was that directly underneath his ball, there was another golf ball submerged in the ground that could not be seen, as it was buried below the surface.
As McIlroy swung, his ball went 117 yards into the fairway, and when he made contact with the ground, the other ball popped up a few feet in the air and landed between his feet. McIlroy almost immediately looked down and picked up the ball in disbelief. “Oh my God,” McIlroy said as he picked up the ball he unearthed with his swing. McIlroy eventually threw the ball into a bush and asked NBC’s on-course analyst Roger Maltbie, “Have you ever seen that before?” Maltbie replied, “That is the most weird, ridiculous thing I have ever seen.