After the opening rounds of this year's BMW Championship at Wenworth, Rory McIlroy had set the pace in spectacular fashion.
An opening round 65, followed by an equally impressive second day out, the third has gone less to plan. Having looked likely to run away with the PGA tour even, McIlroy ran into some serious trouble.
On the sixth hole, after a particularly wayward drive, McIlroy found himself in amongst the trees. Without a clear shot of where he was going, the four-time Major winner skewed his shot and hit a female spectator.
Ouch! I feel bad for both the lady hit and @McIlroyRory. That medical guy immediately jumps to help her so it must have been bad. *audio up* pic.twitter.com/njTOtgNLl6
— notthatJoeClark (@joeboo81) May 26, 2018
Looking visibly shook himself, the medics were on hand quite quickly thankfully.
Rory McIlroy's face after his shot hit a fan in the gallery is priceless. pic.twitter.com/1365NXYf4q
— Sean Zak (@Sean_Zak) May 26, 2018
Amazingly, lightening would strike twice, and thrice.
Bit of needless grief for Rory McIlroy on here. 6th was a freak, 17 you can't see, 18th: "It's into the wind and it's 275 to the bunker with a 3-wood. I thought it was going to pitch in the bunker, so I didn't think anyone was in danger."
— Ewan Murray (@mrewanmurray) May 26, 2018
McIlroy rallied well however, finishing -1 for the round for remaining tied top of the leaderboard with Francesco Molinari.