Participants at the Junior Invitational at Sage Valley were treated to a surprise guest Friday: world No. 1 Rory McIlroy.
McIlroy made an unexpected appearance at the event, held on the Tom Fazio track in Graniteville, S.C., just a few minutes up the road from Augusta National. McIlroy made the trip on behalf of Nike, which serves as the tournament’s exclusive equipment and apparel partner and annually brings a guest speaker in for “Nike Night.” According to a Golfweek report, McIlroy will hold a clinic before speaking to the 54-player field Friday evening.
The Augusta Chronicle’s Scott Michaux also tweeted a video of McIlroy hitting a shot at Sage Valley:
Rory McIlroy made a Nike trip back to Augusta area for Junior Invitational at Sage Valley. pic.twitter.com/IJXwmReeKj
— 1_15_41 🇺🇦 (@ScottMichaux) April 24, 2015
McIlroy has not played since a fourth-place finish at the Masters but is expected to headline the field next week at the WGC-Cadillac Match Play Championship.