Rory McIlroy’s Incredible Closing Birdie at The Players

Rory McIlroy faced a challenging situation but made a remarkable escape on the final hole of The Players Championship.

If you witnessed how Rory McIlroy birdied the 18th hole on Thursday, you’re likely to remember his incredible closing three for a long time.

After missing the fairway off the tee, McIlroy’s ball landed in the pine straw to the right. With water lining the left side and trees obstructing his path, it appeared that McIlroy was headed for a bogey—or worse.

However, he executed an extraordinary recovery, hitting a punch shot that rolled through the fairway and stopped just seven feet from the pin. He then sank that putt for his seventh birdie of the day, concluding a round of 5-under 67 despite missing 10 fairways.

“It’s a better place than going left off the tee, so I was just trying to cut a 3-wood up into the wind to get it onto the fairway. All that stuff has been cleared out over the years, and I was just hoping for a backswing and a gap, and I had both,” McIlroy reflected on his shot on the 18th.

“Just trying to chip-and-run a 5-iron up around the front of the green and make four and get out of there. It was a bonus to get it on the green and hole the putt; that was a lovely way to finish,” he added.

McIlroy struggled with his tee shots, missing to the right on seven occasions. However, fortune favored the Northern Irishman, as he only made two bogies, both coming on the front nine.

“I certainly didn’t drive it the way I wanted to. I didn’t hit it in as many fairways as I would have liked. The receptive greens helped a bit, but I won’t be able to rely on that for the rest of the week. I sort of rode my luck out there,” McIlroy noted.

“But I’m trying to hit this cut shot into play. Missing right off the tee here on any hole is far better than missing left. Just trying to hit this cut into the wind, and obviously, you don’t need to hit it too hard.”

McIlroy is currently one shot behind the leaders, including 2009 U.S. Open champion Lucas Glover, Camilo Villegas, and J.J. Spaun.

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