The famous “Bear Trap” at PGA National ate Rory McIlroy and vomited him back.
McIlroy arrived at the par-3 15th hole with a tournament total of 10 under, but was two strokes off the pace. He birdied his third of his last five holes and was riding the momentum of the world in the third round of the Cognizant His Classic.
However, on the 15th hole, his tee shot got caught in a sand trap behind the green and he was unable to get back up. He fell back to 9 under, but the worst was yet to come.
On the next hole, the par-4 16th, McIlroy hit the fairway again. He has been driving well all week, leading the way in strokes gained off the tee.
Muckleroy then inexplicably pushed his second shot into the water to the right of the green. He struggled with irons and wedges at PGA National and couldn’t put himself in position to make easy birdies.
Those struggles reared their ugly head again at the age of 16, when his ball stopped in the penalty area.it was partially submerged in waterSo McIlroy decided to take off his shoes and socks and go into the lake to play.
The move backfired, and McIlroy’s third shot created a large splash, sending water spraying around, but the golf ball didn’t go anywhere.
As a result, McIlroy picked it up, received a penalty stroke and dropped, resulting in a triple-bogey 7.
He fell back to 6 under for the tournament, losing all the positions he had regained in about 30 minutes.
McIlroy then made a par on the par-3 17th, the final hole of “The Bear Trap,” and birdied the easy par-5 18th, finishing 54 holes at 7 under.
He trails Shane Lowry, David Skins and Austin Eckrot by six strokes heading into Sunday’s final round.
Jack Mirko is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through.Be sure to check it out @_PlayingThrough Cover more golf. You can follow him on Twitter @jack_milko In the same way.
