Rory McIlroy pressured to step away from ball after unusual encounter at Sawgrass

Rory McIlroy’s unusual run-in with a frog completely captured his messy spherical on the Players Championship. During the second day at TPC Sawgrass, McIlroy had an odd encounter with a frog on the third gap par-three.

McIlroy began Friday tied for the lead with Xander Schauffele and Wyndham Clark, after a superb seven-under-par 65 in Thursday’s first spherical. However, he did not do as effectively within the second, carding a one-over 73 and falling behind after Clark put out one other strong spherical of golf.

McIlroy, the 2019 champion, started his second spherical with a disappointing bogey on the primary gap because of a poor tee shot and strategy that left him within the left-hand bunker.

But true to kind, McIlroy rapidly recovered, making a birdie on the par-five second gap. Though the ups and downs have been simply beginning.

On the third gap, a par-three, McIlroy hit his ball to the appropriate, leaving him with a tough second shot out of the thick green-side tough, reviews the Mirror.

Just as he was making ready to take his subsequent shot, a frog jumped into motion, inflicting the 34 12 months previous to step away from his ball. This interruption did not assist him, as he missed the inexperienced together with his chip and ended up including one other bogey to his rating card.

Clark, the reigning US Open champion, had a strong begin with two 65s in a row. McIlroy was wanting to catch up and began his spherical with a little bit of a rollercoaster experience, however managed to hit birdies on the fourth and fifth holes.

However, McIlroy’s recreation took a flip for the more severe when he scored a 5 on the sixth gap because of some points together with his irons. He managed to regular himself with two pars in a row, and ended the primary half of his recreation with a much-needed birdie, placing him one-under for the day.

This left McIlroy trailing Clark by six factors, which quickly turned seven after one other bogey on the twelfth gap. He made up for this with a two on the subsequent gap, however a double bogey instantly after put a damper on his comeback.

He managed to keep up his rating with 4 pars in a row, ending Friday’s recreation with a one-over 73, leaving him eight factors behind chief Clark.

The US Open champion holds a four-point lead over the remainder of the gamers, with Canada’s Nick Taylor and Olympic champion Xander Schauffele tied for second place at 10-under.

Schauffele, who’s on the hunt for his first victory in almost two years, assessed his odds of catching as much as his Ryder Cup teammate. “Yeah, I’ve won from behind,” he shared after the spherical.

“I think it should be maybe a little bit easier, but for the most part we’re just all here – like, we try to stick to our own process and get in our own world, and you kind of forget where you’re at when you do that well.”