The best shot World No. 1 Rory McIlroy may have hit all year didn’t even happen during a tournament; it happened during the pro-am at the Genesis Invitational at Riviera Country Club in February.
McIlroy was playing the par-5 17th hole at the famed George C. Thomas Jr. design in Pacific Palisades, California. Tiger Woods was in the group in front of him when Woods decided to have some fun with his pal from Northern Ireland and tend the flag as McIlroy lined up his approach from approximately 190 yards.
On the Rory & Carson Podcast, McIlroy detailed how he drove in a fairway bunker and blasted out with a 9-iron, leaving him a 6-iron to the green.
Allow Rory to take it from here:
“He was sort of messing around and saw that I was waiting in the fairway so he tended the flagstick for me from 190. It gave me this incentive that I really wanted to hit a good shot here – a little under pressure – and I hit a 6-iron and he actually had to move his left foot out of the way of the golf ball.
“I don’t care what happens this week, that is the best moment. I was so happy.”
Even better, there is video and Rory wasn’t shy about strutting over his gem of a shot on social media.
Thanks for hanging back to tend the pin, @TigerWoods. Almost needed you.😉 https://t.co/zPxLlgBtyu
— Rory McIlroy (@McIlroyRory) February 12, 2020