ATLANTA — The best golfers in the world are not supposed to get much help from the golf course.
Rory McIlroy got plenty of it Thursday at East Lake.
Playing the par-5 18th in the opening round of the TOUR Championship, McIlroy found himself in a greenside bunker with an opportunity to finish his round with a birdie. Instead, he caught his bunker shot too cleanly, sending the ball over the green and toward the grandstand.
Then came the bounce.
The ball struck the grandstand and ricocheted back onto the putting surface, leaving McIlroy with a 17-foot birdie putt. What looked like a certain mistake had suddenly become a legitimate scoring opportunity. McIlroy calmly converted the putt for a birdie and a 4-under 66.
The moment was made even better by who was standing beside him.
Scottie Scheffler, the world No. 1 and McIlroy’s playing partner, watched the entire sequence unfold. Even Scheffler had a laugh at the unlikely break, particularly because the approaching weather had put their ability to finish the round in question.
For everyone watching at East Lake, it was one of those shots that makes golf such a strange game. McIlroy made a poor bunker swing, caught a fortunate bounce off a man-made structure and then still had to finish the job with the putter.
