In the world of golf, Rory McIlroy has seen it all pretty much.
Yet this was something the four-time major winner has never seen before.
McIlroy was a rising star in 2016 who had taken home the Wells Fargo Championship the year before.
as 2016, McIlroy played at Quail Hollow with Rickie Fowler as his pairing.
At the time, McIlroy was rated third in the world.
The Northern Ireland star teed off at the par-3 sixth hole, his sights set on winning another Wells Fargo and rising to the top of the standings.
Then the strangest thing happened.
Someone threw a golf ball close to the tee box.
Additionally, there was an earplug on the golf ball.
McIlroy subsequently found it difficult to articulate the bizarre and utterly unexpected golf incident.
He said, “It was kind of weird.” “That’s never really happened to me before.”
The sight of a golf ball being flung onto the course with something “weird” attached astounded Fowler, who was previously well-known for his vivid attire.
It was “so random,” Fowler remarked. “He attempted to claim that it was a gift. I fail to see why you would present a golf ball with an earplug in it as a gift.”
McIlroy then took the only logical action that was possible because he was a pro.
He showed the course officials the “earplug” fan.
Before long, the fan was taken out of the course and thrown.
The 35-year-old McIlroy has won 25 times on the PGA Tour and made over $83 million in earnings.
He has won the FedEx Cup three times, and in 2015 and 2021 he took home the Wells Fargo Championship.
In preparation for the US PGA Championship at Louisville’s Valhalla Golf Club the following week, he will be aiming to win his fourth Wells Fargo Championship this week.