U.S. Open 2019: Rory McIlroy told a hilarious story about the ‘stupid’ thing he almost did

PEBBLE BEACH, Calif. — Rory McIlroy capped off a victory at the Canadian Open with a thrilling nine-under Sunday 61. It was a brilliant display of power, accuracy, technique, and mental acuity.

And he almost followed it by doing something, in his own words, that was “incredibly stupid.”

It started when Rory jokingly decided to trade his putter for the Toronto Raptors jersey he ended up wearing post-victory.

“I traded [the director of Golf Canada],” McIlroy explained in his pre-tournament press conference at the U.S. Open on Wednesday. “He gave me a Raptors jersey, and I gave him my putter and thought he was going to give it to [McIlroy’s caddie] Harry up at the scoring area or whatever. And I saw Harry. He goes, ‘Where’s your putter?'”

Apparently, there was a miscommunication about the gesture. Rory thought it was a joke, because after all, why would he give away a putter he shot 61 with when the U.S. Open is the next week?

“I know I’ve done some stupid things in the past, but that would have been right up there,” McIlory said.

Don’t worry, the story has a happy ending: Rory and his caddie tracked down the putter after the simple misunderstanding, and personally made sure it was on the plane to Pebble Beach this week. Rory’s found a magic wand that he likes; he’s not going to let it out of his grasp that easy.

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