Rory McIlory may have entered Thursday’s first round at the U.S. Open with some momentum after winning the RBC Canadian Open last weekend. But his adventure on the fifth hole showed that, no matter a golfer’s form, the U.S. Open conditions will always prevail.
McIlroy got into a stick situation when his ball plugged into some deep rough on the edge of a fairway bunker. He was forced to stand in the bunker—with the ball nestled around hip height—and try to punch out into greener pastures. Alas, he couldn’t really anticipate what the ball would do upon impact and didn’t swing quite hard enough, ultimately landing in a second fairway bunker just in front of him.