{"id":275331,"date":"2025-07-19T18:01:15","date_gmt":"2025-07-19T18:01:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/275331\/"},"modified":"2025-07-19T18:01:15","modified_gmt":"2025-07-19T18:01:15","slug":"got-to-be-a-first-rory-mcilroy-left-stunned-by-invisible-ball-in-never-before-seen-moment-at-the-open","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/275331\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Got to be a first’ – Rory McIlroy left stunned by invisible ball in never-before-seen moment at The Open"},"content":{"rendered":"

Someone, somewhere is celebrating the recovery of a golf ball they thought was lost forever at Portrush.<\/strong><\/p>\n

And they owe a serious debt of gratitude to Rory McIlroy<\/a> after he discovered the lost ball in the most bizarre manner possible at this year’s Open Championship.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"McIlroy<\/a><\/p>\n

4<\/p>\n

McIlroy pulled off perhaps the most bizarre golf shot of all timeCredit: AFP via Getty<\/p>\n

The Northern Irishman found himself in the rough following an errant effort off the tee on the 11th hole and looked to get on the green with a tidy approach shot.<\/p>\n

But the moment he struck his own ball, a second one embedded beneath the surface emerged out of nowhere.<\/p>\n

McIlroy had a perplexed look on his face as he knelt down to pick up the second ball and showed it off to the crowd.<\/p>\n

“That has got to be a first, hasn’t it?” Sir Nick Faldo said on commentary for Sky Sports.<\/p>\n

“What are the odds of that? This is unbelievable.<\/p>\n

“He was very fortunate to miss the burns but lands on an old golf ball. What a story.”<\/p>\n

Amid the craziness, McIlroy’s ball landed short of the green and left him in a tricky spot.<\/p>\n

He ultimately recorded his first bogey of the round.<\/p>\n

However, McIlroy immediately rebounded with a scintillating eagle on the 12th.<\/p>\n

A 362-yard drive set McIlroy up perfectly and followed that up with a brilliant 174-yard strike that got him onto the green. <\/p>\n

\"The<\/a><\/p>\n

4<\/p>\n

The Northern Irishman somehow unearthed a ball that wasn’t his…Credit: AFP via Getty\"And<\/a><\/p>\n

4<\/p>\n

And could barely believe the discoveryCredit: AFP via Getty<\/p>\n

But it was his remarkable 56-foot putt that sent the crowd at Portrush into raptures.<\/p>\n

“It has been a long time since he made a birdie,” Rich Beem said on Sky Sports.<\/p>\n

“He was in a drought, he needed one there and he got that eagle.<\/p>\n

“How do the fans feel about it? Are they excited? I’d say yes!”<\/p>\n

McIlroy began his second round in dominant fashion as he recorded an impressive three birdies from the opening four holes.<\/p>\n

But the Northern Irishman, who has not won the Open in a decade, could not build on his early momentum as he recorded a par on every hole from the fifth to the 10th.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a><\/p>\n

4<\/p>\n

A stunning putt to secure an eagle kept McIlroy in with a shout at PortrushCredit: Getty<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Someone, somewhere is celebrating the recovery of a golf ball they thought was lost forever at Portrush. And…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":275332,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4106],"tags":[104090,104091,104092,2826,4366,2998,8635,4287,104089,79,83701,16,15,8642],"class_list":{"0":"post-275331","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-11th-hole","9":"tag-12th-hole","10":"tag-eagle-putt","11":"tag-golf","12":"tag-golf-news","13":"tag-latest","14":"tag-reaction","15":"tag-rory-mcilroy","16":"tag-second-ball","17":"tag-sports","18":"tag-the-open-championship","19":"tag-uk","20":"tag-united-kingdom","21":"tag-updates"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114881212454965969","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275331","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=275331"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275331\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/275332"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=275331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=275331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=275331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}