SOUTHAMPTON, NY – What was that thinking?!
That was the general feeling when a fan showed up to take Rory McIlroy‘s ball on the 4th hole – his 13th of the day – in the opening round of 126 US Open.
The incident unfolded when McIlroy blocked his approach from the rough left on the par-4. His ball sailed right, took a bounce off the cart path and settled into a patch of painted grass. As the fan, wearing a white hat and black skirt, approached the ball, a crowd of other fans followed.
Then came the apparent offense: The spectator bent over, reached out with her left hand and – moments before the spectacle ended – apparently grabbed the ball. On television, you could hear a collective groan from the crowd, as if the woman had just pulled a Van Gogh off the wall at the Met.
We had seen this movie before. IN Open Championship in Portrush last summer, a fan grabbed McIlroy’s tee ball on 17 after McIlroy had missed a tee shot on the right side. McIlroy, as the rules dictate, simply replaced the ball where it lay and played.
At Shinnecock on Thursday, however, a decision was not required. That’s because – plot twist alert! — The fan actually did not catch the ball.
When GOLF.com asked the USGA rules department about what had happened, a spokesperson said via email:
Shortly after McIlroy’s second tee shot on the 4th hole, it appeared on the air that a fan was about to take it when the camera panned away.
However, based on fan testimony and an available video review, his ball was not removed.
The fan stopped short of taking it and McIlroy played the ball as he lay down.
It is unclear whether McIlroy was aware of the scene that had played out around his ball; he was not asked about after his round. Either way, he appeared unfazed in the moment, chipping the ball to 18 feet and drilling that putt to save par. McIlroy birdied the next hole, the par-5 fifth, to get to three under, but then bogeyed those two shots on 8 and 9 to finish with a one-under 69.
“I think with the conditions today, anything under par or anything around par is a good score,” McIroy said after his round. “It was a day to really hold myself in the tournament and not get out of it, which is exactly what I did eight years ago here.”
At that US Open, McIlroy opened with an 80 and missed the double.
