Ayrshire Golfer bests Rory McIlroy in long drive competition at Scottish Open
19-year-old Ruben Lindsay got the better of world number 3 Rory McIlroy.
Last updated 13th Jul 2023
An Ayrshire golfer has made headlines after getting the best of golf legend Rory McIlroy at this years Scottish Open.
A video posted by the PGA tour showed 19-year-old Ruben Lindsay from Turnberry Golf Club placing a bet against the Northern Irishman in a long drive competition.
The teenager was near the end of his practice when he decided he had what it took to get the best of the world number 3.
In the video, McIlroy is clearly wowed by the young Ayrshire golfer after he drove the ball 374 yards at a ball speed of 195mph.
McIlroy can be seen saying he’d be ‘happy’ if he got ‘within 30 yards’ of that.
Although he managed that by driving the ball 352 yards at a speed of 188mph he couldn’t get the best of the 19 year old.
Speaking with the PGA Tour after it, Ruben Lindsay said: “I was just practising after playing the pro-am, saw Rory was there.
"He was just coming towards the end of his session, and, you know, he looked like he was about to leave and I looked at Sam (his friend) and I just thought okay, this is kind of the last opportunity I'm going to get, this year to ask Rory for a long drive.
"I always thought I could get Rory in a long drive and people would say I'm crazy.
"So Sam was like 'okay I'll give you 20 quid', so I was like 'okay I'll take it'.
"I just walked up to him, introduced myself and said, you know, 'heard you're pretty lond, do you mind having a long drive?'.
"He agreed, in typical Rory fashion, and yeah, it was a pretty cool moment."