Rory McIlroy furiously launches driver into water and is forced to fetch soaking club

In a rare showing of frustration, Rory McIlroy launched his driver into the nearby water after hitting his tee shot wide right on the 17th at the BMW Championship.

The Ulsterman doesn't often get frustrated but had clearly seen enough when the cries of 'fore-right' were yelled behind him. Seeing the ball drift off the right to the rough, McIlroy took his club down and swung it at waist height.

Taking one bounce, the driver skipped off the immaculately cut tee box and plonked into the water - causing a splash. Taking a second to see where the ball finished, McIlroy picked up his tee and trudged over to the water's edge. The 35-year-old fished out the club and passed it to his caddie who promptly towled it down.

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Some of McIlroy's frustration will have stemmed from the 16th, where he bogeyed the par-3 to take him back to 1-under for the round. The 17th is a par-5, more than reachable in two shots, so that will have likely only further infuriated McIlroy.

The four-time major winner, however, did par the hole, as well as the 18th, to record a 71. Following his round of 70 on Thursday, McIlroy is now 10 shots behind leader Adam Scott and with a lot of work to do to put himself in contention.

It's been a rather patchy period for McIlroy, who finished tied-68th at the FedEx St. Jude Championship after his horror show at The Open saw him fail to make the cut. Those two events, however, did sandwich a fifth-place finish at the Olympics.

But it's been a rollercoaster few months for McIlroy on and off the course. Filing for divorce from Erica Stoll days before the Masters was followed by a U-turn days before the US Open. He then finished second at Pinehurst No. 2 after missing two agonizing putts in the closing stages.

The nature of letting his lead slip to Bryson DeChambeau was so crushing he took a break from golf before returning to compete in the Genesis Scottish Open - a warm-up tournament for Royal Troon.

"Yesterday was a tough day, probably the toughest I've had in my 17 years as a professional golfer," he wrote a day after the US Open heartbreak. He added: "I'm going to take a few weeks away from the game to process everything and build myself back up."

As the season draws to a close there are few tournaments left for McIlroy to shine in. But he still has two rounds left at the BMW Championship to create something special.