Justin Rose got off to a blazing start at Portrush in the third round. After bogeying the opening hole, Rose birdied five of the next six to claw his way back into contention for the second Open Championship in a row.
Unfortunately, the wheels came flying off on the eighth hole where Rose’s tee shot found a particularly nasty patch of rough. Iron in hand, Rose swiped at his ball, which exploded off his clubface at a near 90-degree angle, flying into the gallery at head height. Watch it and wince.
— Golf Clips (@clips_golf) July 19, 2025
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That’s what we industry insiders call a stone-cold shank. Thankfully, the mis-hit flew straight into a TV tower instead of a forehead, but Rose was immediately concerned, pulling out of his follow-through and shouting, “Ohhh, oh my God!” as his shot narrowly avoided disaster.
Rose also avoided a catastrophe on his scorecard as well, limiting the damage to a bogey as he vies to become the first Englishman to win The Open since Nick Faldo in 1992. The 2013 US Open champion will need to be throwing darts the rest of the way if he hopes to catch Scheffler, Li, Fitzpatrick and co., but this is one shot he’ll be happy missed the mark.
UPDATE: Oops he’s done it again.
https://twitter.com/KylePorterNS/status/1946595297888518610
At least Rose was in good spirits about the pair of ‘hosel rockets’ after his round:
