AN ANGRY Rory McIlroy was mocked by fans after he launched his club into nearby water after a bad tee-shot.
The Northern Irishman, 35, was in action at the BMW Championship in Denver, Colorado.
McIlroy struggled to find his best form, finishing 16th on the second day, leaving him 10 shots behind leader Adam Scott.
On the 17th hole, the four-time Major champion botched a drive – sending it far and wide of the grass.
Reacting to his poor shot, McIlroy tossed his club away in disgust – but it travelled a few yards and plonked the water.
The 35-year-old sheepishly fished out the driver and passed it to his caddie who promptly tapped it down with a towel.
And fans have heaped more misery on the golf ace after reacting to his gaffe on X.
One wrote: “He can’t even get that right…bad golf from Rory the last two weeks.”
A second said: “There’s absolutely no conviction behind that throw. Pathetic performance.”
A third replied: “He had to take the walk of shame to go pull his club out of the water!!”
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Some of McIlroy’s frustration will have stemmed from the 16th, where he bogeyed the par-3 to take him back to 1-under for the round.
It’s been a rather patchy period for McIlroy, who finished tied-68th at the FedEx St. Jude Championship.
This came after his horror show at The Open saw him fail to make the cut last month.
And to top it all off he came agonisingly close to ending his 10-year wait for a major title at the US Open in June.
With five holes left to play he carded three bogeys to squander a two-shot lead over to American Bryson DeChambeau.
He finished fifth in the Paris Olympics.
In June, McIlroy filed for divorce from wife Erica Stoll following seven years of marriage.
He had begun dating Erica in 2015, a year on from his split with tennis star Caroline Wozniacki.
The pair wed two years later, and in 2020 welcomed a baby daughter together.
By Jon Boon
AND so it has run its course.
Rory McIlroy and Erica Stoll, who appeared a match made in heaven, are no more.
The pair were married for seven years and share a daughter called Poppy, who was born in 2020.
But the Northern Ireland golf star surprised fans everywhere when filed for divorce in May 2024.
And it isn’t the first time McIlroy’s relationships have made the headlines – with a romantic history involving a tennis star and even Meghan Markle.
When McIlroy burst onto the scene as a fresh faced teenager, he was supported by childhood sweetheart Holly.
However, they split up after he hit the big time – with McIlroy claiming the split was “amicable.”
But Holly alleged the golfer had left her for tennis star Caroline Wozniacki.
Beginning their romance in such an unceremonious way wasn’t the ideal start with the Danish tennis beauty.
They reportedly met at a boxing match, and soon prospered as a sporting power couple with McIlroy proposing on a romantic holiday to Monte Carlo on New Year’s eve 2013.
Fancy wedding invitations were sent to friends and family, with a date set.
However, Rory allegedly dumped Caroline in a three-minute PHONE CALL – just months before their nuptials.
And it was reportedly all down to a picture Wozniaki had put on Twitter.
In 2014, McIlroy was even romantically linked with the now Duchess of Sussex, Meghan.
The pair flirted in a video shared on social media, as he helped the American actress take part in the Ice Bucket Challenge, a viral trend adopted by many celebs to raise money for ALS.
Later Markle would wax lyrical about McIlroy on her blog.
But nothing even came of it as McIlroy soon fell for Erica – who he had met in bizarre circumstances after sleeping through his alarm at the 2012 Ryder Cup.
Erica, who worked on Tour, spared McIlroy’s embarrassment as he she helped him make his tee-time thanks to a police escort.
The incident began a firm friendship between the pair, four years before their relationship turned romantic.
Soon after, the couple got engaged in Paris and walked down the aisle at Ashford Castle in Ireland in 2017.
