Rory McIlroy and Gareth Bale take on drone challenge as they try to "hit it out of the sky" with a golf ball

Rory McIlroy and Gareth Bale took on a drone-hitting challenge at the 2024 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship. The Northern Irish golfer is playing in this week's DP World Tour event and, during some time away from the official tournament, he participated in an exciting challenge with the former Welsh footballer.

However, instead of aiming for holes, the duo had to hit drones with their shots. The challenge started with Rory McIlroy taking the first shot, but he missed. After a few more close attempts, the World No. 3 finally knocked the drone with his shot and celebrated with Bale.

The DP World Tour shared a video of both sports stars taking part in this unique challenge, with their caption reading:

"Can @McIlroyRory and @GarethBale11 Hit A Drone Out Of The Sky."

Check out the clip below:

Rory McIlroy is an established golfer, while Bale also enjoys playing golf. In fact, the Welshman often competes in pro-am tournaments of professional golf events. Last month, Gareth Bale joined the stellar playing field at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

Bale is quite active on social media, with 53.1 million followers on his Instagram account alone, where he frequently shares golfing videos on the platform.

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"I can still go into tomorrow feeling like I have half a chance" - Rory McIlroy sets his sights on winning the 2024 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship

McIlroy has had a decent outing so far at the 2024 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship and remains in contention to win the title. He had a solid start to the event but struggled in the third round, shooting a 69.

On Saturday, he began with a bogey on the first hole but maintained a good performance throughout the round until the final hole, where he shot a double bogey.

Despite the setbacks, Rory McIlroy is hopeful about his chances heading into the final round. Speaking about his Saturday performance, McIlroy said (via ASAP Sports):

"A little bit, yeah. Playing the last two holes in two days over two days in a row is not ideal. Cost myself obviously a few shots there. You know, wind got up a little bit this afternoon. So the leaders weren't getting away, which was nice and I was making a little bit of a charge.

"And yeah, just one mistake, that drive on 18, and with it playing so much into the wind. With the third shot, the layup was very difficult to try to take on the water. I had to lay up down the right and I still had 222 yards for my fourth. Yeah untimely mistake just like yesterday on 17 and dug myself a little bit of a hole to get out of, but depending on what the leaders do, I can still go into tomorrow feeling like I have half a chance," he added.

The final round of the 2024 Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship began on Sunday, November 10, at Yas Links. At the time of writing, McIlroy started with back-to-back birdies, jumping 10 spots to tie for third place.