PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland — Rory McIlroy picked up the ball from the thick rough, held it out in front of him and burst out laughing.It was one of the most baffling things to have happened to him on a golf course.Maybe one of the most frustrating, too.McIlroy was on a third-round charge at the British Open on Saturday, making birdies and generating roars from the deep galleries that could be heard from a half-mile away in this corner of his native Northern Ireland.What derailed him was almost a trick of the mind.With one swish of his wedge, McIlroy not only hit his designated ball out of the rough to the right of the fairway on the 11th hole but also dug out another ball that had been buried underneath the turf, unbeknownst to him.The second ball popped out of the ground and settled between his feet, much to McIlroy’s surprise. “I have another golf ball,” he said with a confused smile to those around him after picking it up.“That is the most weird, ridiculous thing I’ve ever seen,” McIlroy said later.Indeed, it was just part of a roller-coaster round of 5-under 66 that McIlroy described as “incredible” and an “absolute pleasure.”Three birdies in the first four holes. That bizarre trick shot on No. 11 that led to his only bogey. A bounce-back eagle from 55 feet on No. 12 — produci …
