What an awkward shot it was for Rory McIlroy.
Playing at the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on Thursday, McIlroy teed off on the par-3 13th hole when his shot went wayward and into the crowd gathered to the right of the green. When the four-time major winner arrived to find where his shot went, it was in an unusual place.
The ball had landed on a woman’s lap.
The rest of the crowd had spread out to give McIlroy space to shoot his second shot, but the woman hadn’t moved yet, still sitting on the grass with the ball on her. The woman laughed as McIlroy approached and pretended to take his second shot on the hole off of her lap before asking for a referee.
A referee arrived on the scene and told McIlroy he could have a drop where the woman was sitting. McIlroy then told the woman ‘You can get up,’ as he and the crowd laughed. The woman got up and joined the rest of the gallery.
McIlroy landed on the green after his drop shot and would bogey the hole. He would finish the first round of the tournament at 1-under-par, and is three four shots back of leaders Julien Guerrier, Matthieu Pavon and Nicolai Hojgaard.