RORY MCILROY incredibly hit TWO balls with one shot in never-before-seen scenes at The Open.

The Northern Irishman, 36, made a stunning start to his third round at Portrush with three birdies in his opening four holes.

But on the par-4 11th hole, he somehow managed the bizarre feat.

McIlroy’s drive drifted right of the fairway and landed in the heavy rough.

He played his second shot attempting to get it on the green.

But as he whacked his ball out of the thick grass, a second ball popped up from the undergrowth.

The rogue ball had been plugged in the grass and lost for goodness knows how long.

It then dropped in front of McIlroy and rolled into his foot as he watched his actual ball fly towards the green.

He looked down to see the unlikely intruder sitting there.

A baffled McIlroy picked up the ball and held it up to the crowd and his caddie.

He said: “I was on a golf ball.”

McIlroy then tossed the second ball into a bush.

Unfortunately, he went on to drop a shot and record his first bogey of the round.

But McIlroy bounced back on the next hole to sink an eagle.

Golf fans on social media were all talking about the freak incident.

One wrote: “Somebody watching at home just found their lost ball, thanks to Rory McIlroy.”

Another typed: “McIlroy unearthed a golf ball hitting his golf ball in the most unusual sports play I have ever seen in my life.”

A third commented: “Never seen that before.. Mcilroy hitting his ball which was on top of a buried ball.. mad.”

A fourth replied: “Rory McIlroy resurrecting a zombie ball on the 11th hole.”

A fifth posted: “That was the most bizarre thing I’ve ever seen on a golf course. I thought McIlroy had totally miss hit the ball, but there was a ball buried directly under his, and when he played his shot it rose from its grave!”

A sixth joked: “Rory McIlroy just fully excavated a ball from inside of the Earth on that shot.”

And a final user simply said: “Unbelievable.”