Rory McIlroy said he was happy with the response to the intruder on the tee at the abrdn Scottish Open at The Renaissance Club this morning.
A man breached security to walk on to the 10th tee, removed a head cover from McIlroy’s driver and a club from his bag. The former Open champion was standing just feet away with his caddie Harry Diamond and playing partner, World No 1 Jon Rahm.
The man was quickly removed from the scene by security guards assigned to the group of McIlroy, Rahm and American Justin Thomas.
Police Scotland later confirmed he had been taken to hospital.
After completing his round – and likely to miss the cut at one-under – McIlroy spoke briefly saying that the incident had been a surprise, but that he was satisfied with the reaction.
‘It was handled efficiently and everything’s okay’
Uh, you're not allowed to do that mate. pic.twitter.com/B8OVdo6IRk
— 19th Hole (@_19thHole) July 9, 2021
“It was a surprise, yes, but it was handled efficiently and everything’s okay,” he said. “I had no idea who he was.”
He agreed there was a serious aspect to security breaches of that sort, but added: “Again, it was handled quickly, and that was an end to it.”
Playing partner Rahm, who was standing close to McIlroy at the scene, said he was mostly amused by the incident.
“It was early and there are some areas people can try to exploit,” said Rahm. “For the most part, the Scottish people love the game of golf, they would never try to do things like that.
“He probably thought it was a fun idea. To be fair, it was quite funny.
‘We were all thinking maybe he is supposed to be here’
“Security was good, but these things can happen. He had good timing. He walked in very confidently. We were all thinking: ‘Maybe he is supposed to be here.’ We didn’t know.
“Rory and I both thought it was a prank or someone who was supposed to be there.
“We had three or four security guys with us. Two walk with us, and they did what they have to do.
“It was just someone who took advantage. I’m still not sure where he came from. There is a fence there, maybe he came from there. I don’t know.
“Rory started playing beautifully. It didn’t put anyone off.
“If anything it put a smile on our faces. It will be a pretty good story to tell in the future.”
Police Scotland said they had been called to a report of a disturbance at the course.
A spokesperson said: “Officers were alerted to a man causing a disturbance within the grounds of the Renaissance Club in East Lothian, around 8 am on Friday July 9.
“The 35-year-old man has been taken to the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh and enquiries are ongoing.”
