Rory McIlroy had crossed the creek and stood hopefully on the pine straws with his stray ball at his feet, and waited to see if it was in play. Then, the words from the rules official came his way: “It’s out of bounds!”
Bending down to retrieve the ball and nimbly recross the rocky waterway, the world number three moved towards his provisional ball on the seventh fairway – his 16h hole of the day – in subsequently running up a bogey six that was his only blemish of his opening round of the Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow.
On his 34th birthday, with congratulatory shouts going his way from spectators, McIlroy’s first compet …
- May 5, 2023
