Banana peel moment! A slippery
slope for McIlroy during his 3rd round at the Australian Open
[December 06, 2025]
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Rory McIlroy survived a bizarre
encounter with a banana peel lodged in a tree to shoot a 3-under 68
on Saturday at the Australian Open.
His round left him nine strokes behind leader Danish player Rasmus
Neergaard-Petersen, who made birdie putts on the 17th and 18th for a
66 and a 54-hole total of 14-under 199.
Cam Smith, the 2022 British Open champion who ended his streak of
missing seven consecutive cuts this year on Friday, also shot 66
Saturday and was tied for second, two strokes off the lead.
On the par-4 second hole, McIlroy missed the fairway and his ball
ended up under a small tree and under a banana peel which had
apparently been thrown away by a spectator.
Golfers are allowed to move loose impediments as long as the
player’s ball doesn’t move in the process. If the ball had shifted
as a result of trying to move a loose item, the player incurs a
penalty.
So McIlroy tried in vain to hit his ball through the banana peel and
the branches and back on to the fairway. But it only traveled about
30 feet and he ended up making a double bogey six.
“It was sort of a double whammy — it was in the tough grass, and
under a banana skin,” McIlroy said. “But I shouldn't have been there
in the first place.”
The Northern Irishman made birdie on the next hole and after another
bogey and birdie to complete the front nine, shot a 1-over 35.
On the back nine which was played in often steady drizzle, McIlroy
had four birdies, including on the final two holes as he had done on
Friday, when he also shot 68.
"I didn’t get off to a great start, but I played well from there,”
said McIlroy, who made five birdies on his final 10 holes Saturday.
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Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland plays an approach shot on the 10th
hole during the first round of the Australian Open golf tournament
in Melbourne, Australia, Thursday, Dec. 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Asanka
Brendon Ratnayake)
“I am probably going to be too far behind to
challenge tomorrow,” he added. “But I’d love the course to keep
getting firmer and firmer . . . and if it does I think I could go
out there and shoot something very low, 8 or 9 under.”
After all his missed cuts, Smith, with a bit of an
edge to his comments, said that it was "nice being in contention.”
“It’s been a while since I’ve had this feeling to be honest," Smith
said. “I love that it’s the Australian Open. I couldn’t think of a
better place to get back into form. It would shut a few people up."
McIlroy, whose pre-tournament news conference included comments that
Royal Melbourne was not the best sandbelt course in the city, had a
wild opening round on Thursday containing six bogeys and five
birdies.
McIlroy, the Race to Dubai winner and who completed his career Grand
Slam when he won the Masters this year, is making his first
appearance at the Australian Open since 2015. He won it in 2013.
The winner of the Australian Open, which is the second event on the
European tour's new schedule of tournaments for late this year and
2026, receives a Masters exemption next year. And the top three
finishers not already exempt will qualify for the British Open in
2026 at Royal Birkdale.
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