Rory McIlroy has been called out for pulling a sweet bucket away when wife Erica Stoll in the Royal Box at Wimbledon. A host of golfing icons, including Luke Donald, Tommy Fleetwood and Edoardo Molinari, were given the golden ticket on day three.
McIlroy was joined by his wife of nine years in the front row and was in good spirits as the traditional bucket of sweets made it’s way down to his seat. Fellow Ryder Cup star Molinari handed him the green bucket, which matched the Masters Green Jacket that he was showing off.
When the 37-year-old went to offer Stoll some of the sweets, she placed her hand on the bucket and paused to asses her options. But she clearly took too long and McIlroy unwhittingly moved the bucket away and began to pass it backwards just as his wife went to pick one.
Amazingly, the incident was caught on the BBC cameras and presenter Clare Balding chuckled at the amusing moment.
“This I think you’re going to enjoy,” Balding teased. “This is a section we’re going to call Wimbledon wildcards and first of all they are handing around the sweets in the Royal Box.
“That’s [Edoardo] Molinari, he hands it through to McIlroy. That’s a nice lether.”
Tim Henman interrupted: “There’s a good supply in that bucket. A few eclairs, a few sherbert lemons.”
Balding jumped back in: “Erica then! She’s just about to take one and he rips it away!”
McIlroy stayed late into the night to watch Novak Djokovic beat Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets. He then got a shoutout from the 24-time Grand Slam champion during his on-court interview.
Djokovic said: “Rory, Justin [Thomas], obviously Luke [Donald], it’s nice to see you guys. Congrats Team Europe on the Ryder Cup, I watched you guys. Rory, what a beautiful jacket. Is that a Masters jacket? It must be. Round of applause for Rory for the Masters, please.
“I want that jacket. I’ll play you. This jacket for that jacket, we’ll play tennis! No golf. I want to thank them obviously for being present. I know they arrived early and stayed all day so thank you guys. It really means a lot seeing you here.”