Errant shot by golfer Rory McIlroy creates Masters moment for lucky patron
People kept shouting at Donna Rodgers like she was a half-second away from stepping on a copperhead.
“Don’t move,” they hollered. “Don’t move.”
Of all the strict rules at Augusta National, all the things you’re not allowed to do — bring a cellphone, jeer players, ask for autographs, etc. — moving isn’t on the list. Rodgers was sitting on the left side of the No. 2 fairway, confused by all the hullabaloo.
What she couldn’t see was the Easter egg lying underneath her chair: A sparkling white TaylorMade TP5 golf ball inscribed with the name “Rors.”
The sixth shot Rory McIlroy hit in Masters competition since he fell to his knees on the 18th green and slipped on the green jacket last year caromed off a TV tower, somehow rolled through 50 sets of legs and nestled under her green Masters chair.
A sweet lady from Gadsden, Alabama, Rodgers sat frozen.
“What do I do?” she asked someone.
“Just sit there,” they responded, “and then go buy a lottery ticket.”
A Masters gallary guard walked over soon after, lifting Rodgers straight onto her feet — delicately, of course, as to not move the chair and, thus, the ball.
“You’ve got a famous chair now,” he told Rodgers.
This is not necessarily an uncommon occurrence; golfers hit errant shots all the time. Heck, a little later on Thursday, Xander Schauffele’s tee shot on No. 8 landed in a patron’s bag from the golf shop, which would have only been more bizarre if he was required to hit out of the merch.
The difference, though, is this was McIlroy — arguably the most-beloved golfer at the first Masters tournament in over 30 years that doesn’t include Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson.
McIlroy eventually walked over and spotted his ball under the now-famous chair. He marked the ball with a white tee, then lifted the chair very slowly with two hands, as if it were a moving box packed with fine China.
“He came up here and said, ‘Thank you,’ and I said, ‘You’re welcome,’” said Rodgers.
Rory McIlroy’s first birdie of the 2026 Masters
McIlroy did not gift Rodgers’ with any sort of token for the inconvenience, as golfers sometimes do. Maybe if she fell on the ground or faked some sort of injury — as her family ribbed her to do — the reigning Masters champ might have signed a glove for her.
Instead, she got to witness McIlroy magic. After a horrendous start to the second hole — his first shot faded into the trees on the right and his second shot nearly hit the patrons on the left — the 2025 Masters champion hit a perfect 70-yard wedge shot that landed hole high and rolled to three feet. He knocked it in for his first birdie of the 2026 Masters.
“He birdied my ball up there,” Rodgers said proudly.
Rodgers, though, was not star struck. When asked if she was a fan of McIlroy, her husband, Doug, started giggling.
“Now, this is gonna be reported,” he reminded her.
“I’d rather have Phil,” she said, referring to Mickelson, who’s not playing this year. “I’m sorry, but I’d rather have Phil. He’s not even here this week and I’m disappointed. .... I don’t know if he’s gonna come back and I don’t know if I am either.”
A Masters trip after a trying year
Thursday was Rodgers’ second time at Augusta National, making the trip with Doug, Doug’s brother Greg and his wife, Kathy. Doug has been able to secure badges a few times in the past, but often just brings along his brother.
This year, Kathy and Donna went, too. Call it a much-deserved trip. In 2026, Greg was diagnosed with leukemia and Doug was dealing with serious health issues of his own. Both are fine now, but it’s been a trying year for all of them.
“The wives got to come because we’ve been the troopers,” Kathy said.
“And Rory rewards you,” Doug said.
This story was originally published April 9, 2026 at 2:16 PM with the headline "Errant shot by golfer Rory McIlroy creates Masters moment for lucky patron."
