A golfer from the University of Texas was removed from the land in TPC Sawgrass during a players championship practice on Tuesday in TPC Sawgrass at a time that has since gone viral on social networks that involve the star of the PGA Tour Rory Mcilroy.
Luke Potter, a young man in the Lonchorns golf program, went viral after Mcilroy approached him after the young golfist seemed to say something to the four times older champion just after his trip entered the water in the hole 18.
While what Potter said, Mcilroy clearly did not like, since he immediately turned and approached him. Mcilroy then asked Potter’s cell phone and took it.
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Rory Mcilroy is left in the seventh hole during the first round of the players in TPC Sawgrass in Ponte Vedra Beach, fl., Thursday, March 13, 2025. (Doug Engle/Florida Times-Union)
Mcilroy started walking with Potter’s phone, apparently looking for the video he thought Potter had taken during that moment.
Golf.com reported that Potter referred to the Mcilroy Masters 2011, where he infamously had a collapse during the final round on Sunday that year, he finally shot at 80 and lost the tournament against Charl Schwartzel.
While Mcilroy looked through Potter’s phone, Texas’s golfer was escorted out of the course. His phone was later returned to him.
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“Look, I only made an error and I give myself possession,” Potter said, according to the golf channel, about what had happened with Mcilroy. “I apologize for it. That’s all you have to say … it’s just a good learning experience. Yes, I apologize.”
Potter was high in his university career at the time of the incident, after having won his first individual NCAA tournament, since he won the John Hayt Collegiate Invitational in Sawgrass Country Club. That course is very close to TPC Sawgrass, where players are held every year.
John Fields, Potter’s golf coach in Texas, also spoke with Golf.com about the incident.
The state of Arizona, Luke Potter, looks at his putt in the seventh hole during the quarterfinals of the NCAA Championship match at the Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona, on May 30, 2023. (IMAGN)
“He had no idea that what came out of his mouth would be in this fashion,” Fields said.
“With respect to our University of Texas program, I mean, it is a shameful moment. It is particularly sensitive to me, because our program is based on respect for the game, and I would tell you that you train from 18 to 22 years normally, and do not always make the right call, and that is my responsibility as a coach, and when they make an error, it is a moment of learning.”
However, Mcilroy was not harmed for the moment, since the tournament began with a first round of 5 under Thursday. He is shot by the leaders, Lucas Glover, JJ Spaun and Camilo Villegas, who finished 6 bass.
However, Mcilroy would not answer two different questions about the incident after his round.
Fields said Potter had sent a letter of apology written to Mcilroy, to the PGA Tour Commissioner, Jay Monahan and others.
