National Post Sports

OOPS. Rory McIlroy, the 23-year-old Northern Irishman, hit a spectator on the head at the British Open on Thursday after going out of bounds at the 15th.

McIlroy said he was troubled by the incident at the 15th - where he took a double-bogey six - and delighted with a battling fightback that yielded birdies at the 16th and 18th holes.

“That was an eventful last four holes,” he said. “My tee shot on 15 went slightly right and I got an unfortunate break but I thought I did well to keep my composure and keep my concentration and finish the way I did.

“He (the fan) could have headed it the other way, it would have been in the fairway.”

McIlroy made amends to the bloodied spectator who quickly had his head bandaged up.

“I gave him a glove with a sad face and my autograph,” said the 2011 U.S. Open champion.

“I’ve done that a few times before, it’s not the first time. The most important thing was that he was okay because I would have felt terrible if it had been worse that it was.