It would ultimately prove irrelevant, but, at the time, Rory McIlroy had a rather consequential shot at the par-5 16th on Sunday at Aronimink.
It came after the two-time Masters champ had made a long birdie putt at the 14th to keep his hopes alive, then a par the difficult 15th. Then came the 16th, a prime opportunity to grab another birdie and make one final push. McIlroy blasted a 350-yard drive into the right rough, then hit his second into the greenside rough, but shortsided himself.
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He had to get cute with the third, and that’s exactly what he did. Too cute. It came up one yard short, ricocheting into the bunker and effectively ending his chances.
It wasn’t a fan’s fault, but McIlroy did seem to take out his anger on one. In fairness to McIlroy, the fan yelled almost immediately after impact, and McIlroy quickly pointed him out to security.
Here’s the clip:
And in case the video gets taken down (the DMCA police have been working overtime this week), here are screenshots of the full ordeal:
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McIlroy, impressively, saved par, then went on to par the final two holes to tie for seventh at four under. Even if he had holed this shot for eagle and birdied the last two, he would have lost by one to Aaron Rai, who went scorched earth down the stretch. But at the time, McIlroy was understandably miffed, and he acted accordingly.
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