Rory McIlroy was on the charge at the Irish Open on Saturday afternoon, but it was one shot in particular that will live in the memory.
The 16th hole has brought mixed fortunes for McIlroy this weekend, with a memorable eagle on Friday being followed by a shot into the water on Saturday.
With his drop shot, however, the Co. Down native managed to turn his luck around, with the help of one of the K Club's trusty rocks.
When it looked like the ball was going into the water again, it took a pivotal bounce before landing on the green and finishing up near the hole.
Rory McIlroy - off the rock and onto the green!pic.twitter.com/TOoVMFV99N
— Balls.ie (@ballsdotie) September 9, 2023
Rory McIlroy at the Irish Open
It was an overall good day for McIlroy as he carded a 66 to put himself right back into contention heading into the final round, after a disappointing round on Friday.
The aforementioned eagle on the 16th was followed by a double bogey on 17, and an overall score of 70 on Friday left him eight points behind joint-leaders Shubhankar Sharma and Jordan Smith at the beginning of play on Saturday.
That has now been cut back to just a point off the lead at the time of writing, as he rests up for the night ahead of Sunday.
The 16th was the same hole that Kerry GAA star David Clifford aced when he took part in the Irish Open Pro-Am earlier in the week, alongside the likes of Dean Rock, Rory Best and Tommy Bowe.
On that occasion, Clifford hit a shot that reminded us of McIlroy's famous one at the same hole as he won the 2016 Irish Open at the K Club.
"Last night I probably thought I was too far behind, but I've played a nice round to get myself back into it. It's very exciting to be in with a chance of another Irish Open."
Live Horizon Irish Open leaderboard 👇https://t.co/rmpJ6BWMFv
📺 Watch live: https://t.co/GZLWe3nHiI pic.twitter.com/FIQQNFJ683— RTEgolf (@RTEgolf) September 9, 2023
"Excited to put myself right there."
"Much better, I knew I needed to put the ball in the fairway a bit more off the tee, which I did for the most part," McIlroy told RTE after his round on Saturday.
"I felt like I maybe needed to go a couple lower to get myself right in it. But the guys at the top haven't really went away from the field today.
"Excited to put myself right there and have a chance tomorrow."
McIlroy has certainly done that in the unseasonable September heat, as he remains just a point off leader Hurly Long at the time of writing, and very much in contention to repeat his 2016 Irish Open success at the same venue.
Jordan Smith joins McIlroy on -11, with a quintet that includes Ross Fisher just behind on -10.
Elsewhere, Shane Lowry is on a score of -9 just before 5pm on Saturday, with Mark Power on -7, Tom McKibbon on -4 and Padraig Harrington on -2.
