Rory McIlroy snaps at fan and snatches phone at | Sports News

Rory McIlroy was concerned in a weird incident during the Players Championship on Wednesday, the place he appeared to take a spectator’s phone after hitting his tee shot. A video of the encounter, which shortly went viral on social media, exhibits McIlroy approaching a group of spectators to his left after his shot and asking, “can I see your phone?” earlier than taking it from the stunned fan’s hand and strolling away.

The fan was left standing nonetheless, with their hand outstretched, whereas a good friend regarded on in shock. McIlroy was seen twiddling with the phone for a second earlier than taking it with him down the green.

Speculation online instructed that the fan might have made a remark about McIlroy’s wayward tee shot, which landed within the water. This was adopted by McIlroy’s subsequent tee shot, which landed on the green, simply earlier than the unusual incident occurred.

A witness at the event reported that the heckler had shouted “just like 2011 at Augusta” after McIlroy’s initial tee shot, a reference to his notorious collapse at the 2011 Masters, the place he blew a important lead on the ultimate day and missed out on the coveted inexperienced jacket.

McIlroy confronted a storm of hassle during his ultimate spherical at Augusta, main by 4 photographs till Sunday when his recreation crumbled in a hail of bogeys and uncommon placing errors. His hopes sank along with his tee shot into the water on the thirteenth, irreversibly affecting his lead.

Since that ill-fated day, Augusta has loomed as a daunting problem for McIlroy, overshadowing his accomplishments with lingering questions on whether or not he’ll ever emerge victorious in Georgia. However, 2025 started promisingly for him with a win at the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am in February.

McIlroy skilled some hiccups at each the Genesis Invitational and Arnold Palmer Invitational, indicating an uneven stride in the direction of Augusta as soon as more.

The Northern Irish golfer seeks to lighten the depth surrounding his pursuit of the profession grand slam, but all eyes will probably be on him as he approaches subsequent month’s event in Augusta. McIlroy plans to get in early observe rounds at Augusta National earlier than the Masters kicks off.

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Delivering remarks at TPC Sawgrass, McIlroy confirmed optimism concerning his present kind, saying, “I’d say even the two finishes post-Pebble [Genesis and Arnold Palmer] have been almost like the worst that they could be. I finished bad on Sunday at Bay Hill. I finished bad on Sunday at Torrey Pines, as well.

“But the one factor I might say is the turnaround in my placing from Torrey to Bay Hill was great. I completed, I feel, fifth [actually seventh] in placing final week, so to see that flip round was actually encouraging. That’s one thing for me to be actually inspired about going into this week, clearly, and then the following few months.”