Rory Mcllroy hit his dad with an errant shot at The Masters

Golf is often a great way to a parent to bond with their child as adults, but it’s generally advised not to hit your dad with a golf ball in the process.

At the 2021 Masters, Rory McIlroy was taking a shot on the 7th when he missed his intended goal and sent the ball into the gallery. It’s golf, it happens — but it wasn’t until McIlroy and his caddy Harry Diamond looked at the crowd that they realized what happened.

“Was that your dad you hit?”
“Yeah!”

Personally, I think it’s great to involve your parents in your success when you become a globally famous athlete. Make them realize they were a part of the process too, even if that means getting hit by the occasional golf ball.

The best part of this is easily McIlroy was vaguely excited about hitting his dad. I mean, I get it. The odds of hitting anyone in the gallery are fairly low. According to this blog the odds of getting hit by a golf ball are less than 1 percent, and that’s mostly focused on being in on the course — not in the gallery. So let’s play it safe and say there’s a 5 percent chance of being hit in the gallery. Now, assume that you hit someone you know — that’s gotta be another 5 percent or so on top of that. Your dad? One dad in the world and you hit him? It has to be one-in-a-million, maybe even less.

After the round McIlroy was asked about the shot, and had a practical answer.

“I think he just needs to go and put some ice on,” he said. “Maybe I’ll autograph a bag of frozen peas for him.”

I’d love this to happen, just so we could have the world’s most valuable bag of frozen peas.