Rory McIlroy’s Irish Open-winning shot at the K Club has been voted the European Tour’s Shot of the Year, writes Stephen Barry.
The risky 252-yard approach over water to the final green set up a three-foot eagle putt, which meant a three-shot victory for the man whose own foundation hosted the tournament.
Officially the 2016 Shot of the Year pic.twitter.com/MndubI1kmq
— The European Tour (@EuropeanTour) January 8, 2017
“I had a similar shot in the Pro-Am, actually,” said McIlroy in recalling the shot.
“JP (Fitzgerald) tried to get me to hit a 4-iron, and it was a similar wind, as well, but I felt like I was trying to hit it too hard. So I actually dropped another ball in the Pro-Am and hit 5-wood, a very similar shot to what I hit today.
“I actually got a little bit of practise there. I didn’t know I would need it at the end of the week but there you go.”
It completed a double of Shot of the Year awards for the Northern Irish golfer, coming in the wake of the PGA Tour announcing that he had hit the best shot on that side of the Atlantic too.
McIlroy’s hole-out eagle on the 16th hole at the TOUR Championship hauled him into a playoff with Ryan Moore. He went on to win the tournament and, as a result, the $10million (€9.5million) FedEx Cup.
No playoff spot … without this shot.
No FedExCup … without this shot.@McIlroyRory has our top shot of the year https://t.co/d5WhYumDKF— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) December 15, 2016
McIlroy received nearly a third of fans’ votes for the European Tour award, beating Scott Hend’s albatross and Brett Rumford’s perfect bunker shot into second and third places respectively.
