The PGA Tour has taken to Wilmington, Delaware for the BMW Championship, which is the second event of the FedEx Cup playoffs, and star golfer Rory McIlroy was thrown off his game thanks to a bizarre fan interaction on Saturday.
The interaction occurred on the par-three 15th hole when McIlroy was lining up a birdie putt, and saw a remote control golf ball in his line of sight sitting by the hole.
Video of fan trying to show Rory a remote control ball.
Rory wasn’t having it. pic.twitter.com/NUKnN5FL97
— Golfers Anonymous DAO (@GolfAddictsNFT) August 20, 2022
McIlroy then went up to the ball and batted at it with his putter, only for the fan to continue to disrupt play with his golf ball.
It was clear that McIlroy was growing tired of the joke, and he proceeded to pick up the ball and throw it into the water surrounding the 15th hole as fans in attendance cheered.
Security then quickly found the fan in attendance who was controlling the ball, and escorted him off of the course with fans booing in the background.
Many around the Golf world understand Rory’s decision to put an end to the interaction considering it was clearly impacting the hole at hand.
I’m HOPING this wasn’t a Delaware resident #golf fan that decided this was a good idea. Rory handled it…swimmingly….in the pond. @NBCPhiladelphia @rkuestnernbc10 @JClarkNBCS @NBCSPhilly https://t.co/PLrTOFZ9Nz
— Tim Furlong (@tfurlong) August 20, 2022
The water was the only place this ball was ever gonna end up. 😂😂😂 https://t.co/zwBiCSXFVs
— Aaron Flener (@AaronFlener) August 20, 2022
He was fixin’ to get those hands from @jylooper https://t.co/AdKMCoP36i
— Whit Turnbow (@CoachWTurnbow) August 20, 2022
Stunned that this could happen and happen for so long.
Your thoughts welcome https://t.co/q5BTj5G1Js— Michael Breed (@MichaelBreed) August 21, 2022
— Kyle Porter (@KylePorterCBS) August 20, 2022
Fans can have their fun in attendance like screaming out things after a golfer hits a shot, but this interaction very clearly impacted those on the course which is certainly an overstep from the fan.
It doesn’t help matters that Rory wasn’t having the best round up to that point, so it was understandable that he quickly got upset by the trolling.
McIlroy sits in a tie for 10th heading into Sunday’s final round action in Wilmington, and he will look to have an impressive round to give himself a chance at winning the event.
About Reice Shipley
Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.