:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/46954270/usa-today-8743421.0.jpg)
The CSI: Whistling Straits episode starring Rory McIlroy’s ankle officially jumped the shark Wednesday when commentator John Feinstein compared the injury that the world No. 1 recently suffered to his own accident decades ago.
"I had almost the exact same injury in college because I fell down a flight of steps -- sober," Feinstein, 59, said on the Golf Channel after McIlroy answered several questions about the ligament he blew in a friendly soccer match with pals on July 4.
John Feinstein is talking about how he fell down a flight of stairs in college. We've officially analyzed & discussed Rory's injury too much
— Brendan Porath (@BrendanPorath) August 12, 2015
Um, okay, but back to Rory, who shed additional light on the game’s most overly scrutinized body part since Tiger Woods went under the knife for a microdiscectomy in 2014. Turns out the four-time major winner believed he had broken his left ankle when he rolled it.
"As soon as I went over on it I heard like a snap," McIlroy said during a press conference on the eve of the PGA Championship.
Seconds after rupturing one of his ligaments and severely injuring another, the ankle blew up to the size of a tennis ball. Hours of rehab followed and five weeks later McIlroy, seemingly miraculously, was back at work inside the ropes and the media center.
"It could have been worse," said McIlroy, who counted himself "lucky" that his leisure activity did not do more damage than it did.
In fact, McIlroy took his weakened wheel out for a test drive last week when he walked and played 72 holes in Portugal. He aced his "closed doors" exam and graduated to the final major on the men’s 2015 schedule.
"Four days in a row, 72 holes, playing with no pain, no swelling, no anything like that," he said. "Then we knew that, okay, you're ready to go."
Phil: "Careful on those stairs, Rory. Don't hurt your ankle." Rory: "Luckily, my legs aren't as old as yours." pic.twitter.com/QePGftjyKx
— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) August 11, 2015
Despite his good fortune that he just his right ankle in a 2013 kickabout and his left, which bears his weight on the powerful follow-through of his swing, last month, don’t expect the 26-year-old from Northern Ireland to give up his favorite recreation for more sedentary activities like jigsaw puzzles.
"I'm not going to stop doing what I do." -- @McIlroyRory on playing soccer. #PGAChamp http://t.co/TVqbnhtAO0
— PGA.COM (@PGA_com) August 12, 2015
"I might take some precautionary measures next time … maybe wear ankle braces," McIlroy conceded, noting that such incidents can occur by falling off a curb. "But apart from that, I'm not going to stop doing what I do. I enjoy that part of my life, I enjoy having that normality in my life, something that I've done since I was a kid and I won't stop doing that, no."