CNN
—
One other day, one other exhibit of mind-boggling golf wizardry from Rory McIlroy.
Even within the midst of an underwhelming opening spherical on the Waste Administration Phoenix Open in Arizona on Thursday, the world No.1 discovered a method so as to add one other slide to his near-endless spotlight reel of exceptional photographs.
Again-to-back bogeys both facet of the flip at TPC Scottsdale had seen the Northern Irishman arrive at his eleventh gap at one-over par, and his woes have been instantly compounded when his booming, 337-yard tee drive went crusing over the trail operating down the correct facet of the green.
The ball’s ultimate resting place, lodged within the dust near a steel fence, made for grim viewing. With seemingly minimal room to swing, most golfers would have seemingly simply settled for getting again on the green.
However as he has proven time and time once more, McIlroy just isn’t most golfers. With a chop of his pitching wedge, the four-time main winner punched his shot by way of a hall of spectators and bushes, the ball selecting the inexperienced simply over 40 ft from the outlet.
Incredulous gasps from the onlooking crowd have been mirrored on social media, with the PGA Tour tweeting a video of the shot captioned: “Are you kidding[?]”
“Rory McIlroy has simply performed a shot that I’d have been pretty sure was inconceivable,” tweeted Sky Sports activities golf reporter Jamie Weir.
McIlroy subsequently tapped in for 4 to stroll away with par, an end result he was very happy with given the precarious place he had discovered himself in.
“It seemed like I didn’t have a backswing, however I didn’t notice the angle, like how far proper the inexperienced truly was,” the 33-year-old instructed reporters.
“I bought fortunate with the tee shot that I had a swing, however I hit an amazing shot and was delighted to stroll away with a par,” he added.
A fourth bogey of the day on his sixteenth gap noticed McIlroy card a two-over 73, leaving him tied for 82nd and 7 photographs adrift of Canadian main pair Nick Taylor and Adam Hadwin, who impressed amid windy situations in Scottsdale.
Having began 2023 with an emotionally charged victory on the Hero Dubai Desert Traditional, McIlroy is trying to prolong a exceptional run of seven consecutive prime 4 finishes throughout DP World Tour and PGA Tour occasions.
The world No. 1 is within the type of his profession, and is aware of it. Requested forward of the event if he seems like he’s the most effective participant on this planet, McIlroy was succinct.
“Sure,” he replied.
Pushed to increase, McIlroy continued: “As a result of I do. I’m taking part in effectively. I really feel like consistency-wise, I’ve been nearly as good as I’ve been ever in my profession.
“I stated on the finish of final 12 months, I really feel like as full of a participant as I ever have. In case you simply take a look at my statistical classes, there’s no actual evident weaknesses there. I’ve labored actually laborious on that, to attempt to grow to be a extra well-rounded participant.”
