WILMINGTON, Del. – Don’t mess with Rory McIlroy.
The Northern Irishman was paired with Scott Stallings during Saturday’s third round of the BMW Championship at Wilmington Country Club’s South Course when a fan intruded and dropped a remote-control golf ball on the green and attempted to make it go in the hole at the par-3 15th.
“That wasn’t exactly something I expected to see on a Saturday afternoon,” said Stallings, who was lining up a sand shot.
“He kept yelling at Rory, ‘This is my dream, this is my dream,'” Stallings said. “I don’t know exactly what he was dreaming about, but his ball is gone.”
That’s because McIlroy ended his fun quickly. First he took a couple of swats at it with his putter, but when the spectator made a third attempt at holing the ball, McIlroy picked it up and heaved it into the pond fronting the green. Game over.
Video of fan trying to show Rory a remote control ball.
Rory wasn’t having it. pic.twitter.com/NUKnN5FL97
— Golfers Anonymous DAO (@GolfAddictsNFT) August 20, 2022
“I thought it was great,” Stallings said of the way McIlroy handled the situation. “I was about to go and do the same thing.”
A police officer came over and escorted the spectator away. For Stallings, this didn’t rank as the strangest thing he’s witnessed from a spectator at a golf tournament.
“I was with a streaker doing sand angels completely naked at Waste Management at 17,” he said.
