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The four-time major winner teed off from the
13th hole at the Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai and as the ball
fell outside the green, spectators moved aside to reveal his
ball was lodged on the lap of a woman sitting on the grass.
McIlroy playfully pretended to take his next shot off her lap
amid laughter before he called for the referee, who himself
could not contain a smile as he took in the Northern Irishman's
predicament while the woman stood absolutely still.
"You can pass him the ball," the referee said as the relieved
woman quickly picked up the ball and handed it to McIlroy.
"You can move now, you are now excused," the referee added as
she picked up her belongings and moved aside before a smiling
McIlroy was allowed to continue with a dropped ball, eventually
making a bogey.
McIlroy also found the wooden bridge on the 18th, bizarrely the
second player to do so after Viktor Hovland's shot on the 17th
landed on the rickety structure.
Nicolai Hojgaard, Julien Guerrier and Matthieu Pavon shared a
three-way lead after they shot 67 for five-under par.
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Julien Pretot)
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