McIlroy, 35, was randomly playing a practice round at the famous Open venue just three days before the start of the Olympic Golf Tournament at Le Golf National in Paris.
The Northern Ireland’s appearance back on the course comes less than two weeks after he shockingly missed the cut by a wide margin at The 152nd Open at Royal Troon.
He then jetted off for a holiday to Portugal.
As the World No.3 went innocently about his business on the Old Course on Monday afternoon, word quickly got round on social media that McIlroy was in town.
By the time McIlroy reached the short par-4 18th, hundreds of fans had flocked to St Andrews to see the four-time major champion.
The grandstands are currently being set up at St Andrews as the AIG Women’s Open will be staged there from 22-25 August.
One rather loud American heckler from Miami wanted to let McIlroy know just how much Florida loves him.
McIlroy currently resides in Jupiter, Florida.
Shouts for America kept coming from the man located to the right flank of the 18th.
Others were reduced to nervous laughter.
McIlroy looked over, waved and then cupped his hands around his mouth to shout: ‘You’re not going to love us next year’.
His comments were met with cheers and laughter from the UK fans situated around the 18th green on the Old Course at St Andrews.
McIlroy was of course referring to the highly-anticipated 2025 Ryder Cup match at Bethpage Black in New York where Luke Donald’s Europe will look to defend their title against Keegan Bradley’s USA.
Europe have not won a Ryder Cup on American soil since the ‘Miracle at Medinah’ in 2012.
Donald has once again got the reigns for Europe, but Bradley was a recent shock appointment for USA.
The PGA’s decision to elect Bradley came after Tiger Woods turned down the role.
Scroll below to watch McIlroy’s response to the loud American heckler at St Andrews…
Very few people expected McIlroy to be playing 18 holes on the Old Course today.
That’s because the Men’s Olympic Golf Tournament tees off on Thursday.
But then again, Paris isn’t too far away.
And McIlroy doesn’t fly economy after all.
GolfMagic also happened to be at the Old Course at St Andrews today.
We caught McIlroy ripping a tee shot down 16.
McIlroy has chosen to represent Ireland at the Olympic Golf Tournament.
He is joined on Team Ireland by his good friend Shane Lowry, who was the flag bearer during the opening ceremony last week.
World No.1 Scottie Scheffler is the pre-tournament favourite, closely followed by Open champion and defending Olympic champion Xander Schauffele, who has now replaced McIlroy as World No.2.
Team USA have four entries this week as a result of their positions in the top 15 in the world rankings.
Collin Morikawa and Wyndham Clark also make up Team USA in Paris.
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Source: New York Post
