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Watch Rory McIlroy roll up his pants to hit a great recovery shot from a water hazard

November 17, 2016

It's never a good sign when your day's best highlight comes from a bad place on the golf course. That being said, this recovery shot from Rory McIlroy in the first round of the DP World Tour Championship is worthy of your time.

McIlroy made a mess of the par-4 16th at Jumeirah Golf Estates' Earth Course on Thursday, but at least, he didn't make a mess of his clothes. Before attempting to hit a shot from a water hazard, McIlroy took off a shoe and rolled up his pants. Then he did this:

Pretty smooth. Unfortunately for the four-time major champ, that was his second attempt from there. And McIlroy still missed that short putt for bogey.

It was all part of a rough first-round 75 that has McIlroy ahead of just three players after Day 1 of the European Tour's season finale. For McIlroy, it was his first career over-par score in 29 career rounds at the event where he's the defending champ.

Meanwhile, it seems Lee Westwood has channeled his frustration at being a last-minute snub from next week's World Cup of Golf well. Westwood leads after an opening 66.