Rory McIlroy almost nailed by golf ball as Truist Championship fans dive for cover

was only a few feet away from being hit by a golf ball during the early stages of his final round at the Truist Championship. The fans gathered around McIlroy's shot from the rough all ducked in unison when the 'fore' shout came, and although the stray ball bounced up and hit a policeman, everybody escaped unscathed.

McIlroy began his fourth and final round six shots back from the leaders after carding 69 on Saturday. He made the perfect start with a birdie on the first, moving him to nine under. And that is where he stayed until he arrived at the scene of his scary near-miss on the fifth.

After watching the shot land close to McIlroy and even closer to a tightly-packed group of spectators, startled commentator Andrew Coltart said: "Oh goodness me.

"Good shout of fore and it bangs into the broad shoulders of the copper over there on the left-hand side. It's a very concentrated golf course! Handcuffs are ready. Hopefully McIlroy is not in jail here..."

The Northern Irishman collected himself and hit back out onto the fairway, but the remarkable birdie run he needed to get back into the equation for victory never came. McIlroy made 11 straight pars before picking up his next shot at the 13th.

That was all she wrote for the Masters champion as he finished the tournament on 10 under and rooted for close friend Shane Lowry from the clubhouse.

McIlroy was weak off the tee at Philadelphia Cricket Club, which is something he will be eager to work on ahead of another major tilt at the PGA Championship later this week.

"I thought on the greens was good even though I didn't hole a lot of putts today," he said after his final round. "My approach play got a little better as the week went on, I just need to hit a few more fairways.

"I feel with next week and the tee shots I have to hit there, it'll set up better for me. I'm looking forward to getting to Quail Hollow and seeing some more familiar visuals.

"I'm going there after winning my first major in a decade. With where that puts me in the argument of some of the best players ever, it's very, very cool. I'm not going there saying I don't care but it is more relaxed."