Golf superstar Roy McIlroy was spotted taking a mobile phone off a spectator during the Players Championship on Wednesday after claims he was heckled from the sidelines
Rory McIlroy placed himself at the centre of an odd confrontation during his practice round the Players Championship on Wednesday, as he appeared to take a spectator’s phone following his tee shot.
The incident quickly spread on social media and saw the Northern Irish golfer walk up to a member of the crowd, and appear to ask ‘can I see your phone?’ before taking it from their hands and walking away. McIlroy seemed to scroll through the phone as he made his way off while the bewildered spectator’s hands remained outstretched in disbelief at what had just taken place.
It has been claimed that McIlroy had been taunted after driving his tee shot into the water. An attendee suggested a heckler had yelled, ‘just like 2011 at Augusta’ following the shot. The 35-year-old endured an infamous meltdown at the Masters that year after forgoing a substantial lead to miss out on the green jacket on the final day of competition.
McIlroy’s second shot from the tee went onto the fairway, during his practice round at TPC Sawgrass, in Florida. But it was then that the four-time major winner made his way across to the spectator with his club still in hand.
The outcome of the interaction remains unclear as McIlroy is shown walking away with the phone. There appeared to be little attempt at reclaiming it before the footage ends.
While McIlroy’s tee shot may have harked back to more difficult times, the golf star is feeling happy about where his game is at this season. He has endured some difficult results but highlighted a transformation in his putting which has given him reason for optimism.
“It feels good,” he told the media of his game. “I’d say even the two finishes post-Pebble 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 thing I would say is the turnaround in my putting from Torrey to Bay Hill was great. I finished, I think, fifth [actually seventh] in putting last week, so to see that turn around was really encouraging.
“That’s something for me to be really encouraged about going into this week, obviously, and then the next few months.”
The three-time FedEx Cup winner also admitted he plans to walk away from golf before his abilities leave him completely. “When I’ve achieved everything I want to achieve in the game and I get to the point where I don’t think I can maybe do that any more,” he said of his retirement plans.
“I don’t want to be out there embarrassing myself. I’d like to walk away maybe a little before I should. There’s always one more, but that’s OK. If you can come to terms with that and walk away on your own terms, then that’s a good thing.”
