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Rory McIlroy throws club into water at WGC Cadillac Championship
Northern Irishman frustrated after pulling shot into water hazard
It was an act of frustration perhaps more commonly associated with golf’s fictional anti-hero Happy Gilmore than the world’s reigning No 1. player.
But when Rory McIlroy pulled his second shot on the eighth hole of the WGC Cadillac Championship into a lake Friday, he might as well have been channeling the much loved Adam Sandler character.
Before continuing his round with a dropped ball, the four-time major winner launched the 3-iron used to play the offending shot into the water as well.
“(It) felt good at the time,” a rueful McIlroy later said of the incident in comments carried by the PGA Tour website.
“I just let frustration get the better of me. It was heat of the moment, and I mean, if it had of been any other club I probably wouldn’t have but I didn’t need a 3‑iron for the rest of the round so I thought, why not.”
The club “must have went a good 60, 70 yards,” he joked.
McIlroy composed himself to finish with a second round of 70, leaving him one-under for the tournament and eight shots off the pace set by leader JB Holmes.
While an improvement on last weeks performance at the Honda Classic event, where he failed to make the cut, the Northern Irishman’s frustration with elements of his game was still clear.
“I think every golfer feels it because I don’t hit shots like the one I hit on 8 on the range,” he said.
“That’s what really bothers me, the fact that I get out on the course and I hit shots that I’m not seeing when I’m in a more relaxed environment.
“So it’s a little bit of mental, a little bit of physical. It’s just everything is not quite matching up.”
Elsewhere on the course, Ryan Holmes scored a two-under-par 71 to remain in second position overall, two shots behind Holmes.
Former world No 1., Adam Scott carded an impressive 68 to finish the day three shots off the pace at six-under while Bubba Watson and Henrik Stenson are tied for fourth on four-under.