Rory McIlroy pulled off a phenomenal bunker shot at the Genesis Open this evening.
McIlroy found himself in a bunker in the middle of the green at the par three 6th hole. Faced with a slopey task, McIlroy summoned all of his bunker mastery to use the slopes to guide his ball within inches of the hole for a tap in par.
Had it gone in it would certainly have been an early contender for shot of the year. It was Phil Mickelson esque, who is notorious for using the contours of the green to pull off spectacular and creative short game shots.
The shot, and how it was aimed far left of the hole before trickling its way down to the cup, was also reminiscent of Tiger Woods’ legendary shot at Augusta in 2005.
It doesn't get much better than this, @McIlroyRory. 👏 pic.twitter.com/Kt0S459oU7
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) February 19, 2022
At the time of writing, McIlroy sits in tied 26th at five under par. The tournament is being played at the notoriously difficult Riviera Golf Club, whose tough greens take many prisoners on dry and hard days.
At the par 71 course McIlroy hit a first round 69, a second round 70, and is currently two under for his third round.
Leading the tournament is Chile’s Joaquin Niemann, with the likes of Justin Thomas, Jordan Spieth, Viktor Hovland, Cameron Smith, and Adam Scott all in the top ten.
McIlroy is having an encouraging season so far despite his blowup at the Dubai Desert Classic.
In Dubai, McIlroy needed just a par at the par 5 18th to force a play-off with Richard Bland and Viktor Hovland.
Not trusting his driver, McIlroy took 3 wood off the tee leaving him with a long way to go the green with water to play over as well.
Rather than lay-up, McIlroy decided to go for the green in two but found the water and made bogey.
Despite this mess-up McIlroy will be relatively pleased with his season so far with the year’s first major at Augusta beginning on April 4th.
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