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Ryan Fox was stunned to see Rory McIlroy's club head come off during the opening round of the 2024 BMW PGA Championship. This week, the DP World Tour event features a star-studded field, including McIlroy, Tommy Fleetwood, and Matt Fitzpatrick, starting with its first round on Thursday, September 19.
During the round, while McIlroy was taking his second shot on the 12th hole, the head of his nine iron came off and flew straight into the fairway. The club head traveled around 25 yards before the World No. 3 retrieved it.
Cameras captured the incident and also his group member Ryan Fox’s reaction. The Kiwi golfer was shocked to see the head of the club flying in the air and said:
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"I've never seen that in person."
Check out the clip below:
Notably, Fox, McIlroy, and Justin Rose teed off together for the first round of the 2024 BMW PGA Championship. While McIlroy got off to a good start, taking the fourth spot on the leaderboard, Fox struggled with his game, shooting a 71 and settling in a tie for 54th place.
He started his game on the first tee and made a par, followed by a birdie on the next hole. However, Fox struggled on the following hole, shooting a bogey, but bounced back with a birdie on the par-5 fourth hole. He carded two birdies and two bogeys on the front nine and three birdies with one double bogey on the back nine for a 1-under 71, tying for 54th place.
Justin Rose, on the other hand, shot a 69 and tied for 23rd place. He started with a birdie on the first hole and then made an eagle on the fourth. Rose birdied five holes, made bogeys on four, and carded an eagle for a 3-under 69. Meanwhile, Matthew Baldwin took the lead at 7-under.
"I don't think it's ever happened"- Rory McIlroy reacts to club head detaching mid-round at the 2024 BMW PGA Championship
McIlroy reacted to his club head getting detached mid-round during the 2024 BMW PGA Championship in a post-round press conference. Despite the difficulties, he managed to make a birdie on the hole.
Speaking of the incident, the Holywood-born golfer acknowledged that it had never happened to him before and felt "weird," but he was pleased that it did not impact his shot.
"I don't think it's ever happened to me before. Obviously a very weird feeling through impact. I looked up and the club head caught my eye instead of the golf ball. So I completely lost where the golf ball was. Didn't know where it went," McIlroy said (via ASAP Sports).
"But I was just looking somewhere around the green and saw the ball fall just right of the pin and go up there and go pretty close. Fortunately, it didn't impact the shot too much. But I got it repaired and had it back on 16. Thankfully didn't need it for any of the holes in between," he added.
McIlroy shot a 5-under 67 in the first round of the 2024 BMW PGA Championship. He made four back-to-back birdies on the front nine, from the third to the sixth holes, and then shot a bogey on the seventh. He finished with seven birdies and two bogeys, settling just two strokes behind the leader. The tournament will have its final round on Sunday, September 22.
