LYTHAM ST. ANNES, ENGLAND - When Rory McIlroy went in search of his drive at No. 15 on Thursday, he wasn't expecting anything worse than a tough lie. Instead, at the end of his wild slice, he discovered a bloodied teenager with a bandaged head and his golf ball out of bounds -- by a few inches -- next to a burger stand.
The 16-year-old spectator, Jason Blue of Bristol, England, got a considerable bruise when he took the shot off his head and was treated at the scene.
McElroy expressed relief that the boy otherwise was OK, then joked: "He could have headed it the other way. It would have been on the fairway."
McIlroy returned some 300 yards to the tee to hit his third shot and wound up making 6, which knocked him temporarily off the leaderboard. But he proceeded to make birdie on two of the last three holes to finish off a 3-under-par 67.
McIlroy, to his credit, didn't let the commotion faze him.
"I got an unfortunate break," he said. "But I thought I did well to keep my composure and keep my concentration and finish the way I did. I'm very pleased with that."
He gave Blue an autographed glove for his troubles.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
