Jon Rahm wasn’t put-off by Rory McIlroy’s club snatcher as he stormed into the halfway lead at the ASI Scottish Open.
The World No.1 was beside the startled Northern Irishman when a shock intruder wandered onto the 10th tee and whipped a club out of his bag and began swinging to the shock of fellow fans.
Rahm, though, was unperturbed with a sensational round which started with a front-nine blitz of 29 shots taking him to the top of the leaderboard alongside Thomas Detry and Jack Senior with two rounds to go at the Renaissance.
Rahm said: “Me and Rory didn’t say anything. He was holding a six iron and I didn’t want to get hurt. 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.”
Detry joined his old pal on 11-under par by matching the Spaniard’s first two rounds of 66 and 65.
The Belgian said: “I’ve got great vibes. I shot the lowest round on Sunday last year, joint lowest-round with Aaron Rai who obviously won.”
Englishman Jack Senior is also a joint leader, while South Africa’s George Coetzee and English pair Lee Westwood and Matt Fitzpatrick are next in line a shot back of the top pair and Aberdeen’s David Law heads the home challenge just three behind.
Westwood finished eagle, birdie, birdie to post his score and said: “I get to get up every day and do something I love and my swing feels in a good place.”
McIlroy’s day did not improve after the early-morning incident involving his kit as a level-par round meant he missed the cut.
The 32-year-old will not take part over the weekend at the Renaissance and now must find serious improvements to be a contender at The Open at Royal St George’s next week.
On the incident, McIlroy said: “I was surprised. Everyone saw what happened on TV. It was handled efficiently and everything was okay. I had no idea who it was.”
Asked if there was a serious side involving player safety, he added: “Yeah there is, but, again. it was handled efficiently. It was fine.”
The individual was removed from the scene by security guards assigned to the group which also included American Justin Thomas and Police Scotland later confirmed the offender had been taken to hospital.
