Rory McIlroy caught in awkward Wimbledon moment with wife Erica Stoll

Rory McIlroy left BBC presenter Clare Balding in stitches after an awkward but amusing moment involving wife Erica Stoll in the Royal Box at Wimbledon.

The Masters champion was among a host of golfing stars invited to take prized seats on day three of the Championships, with Luke Donald, Tommy Fleetwood and Edoardo Molinari also in attendance.

McIlroy was sitting in the front row alongside Stoll, his wife of nine years, when the traditional Royal Box sweet bucket was passed in his direction.

The green bucket was handed to him by former Ryder Cup team-mate Molinari and perfectly matched the Masters Green Jacket McIlroy was proudly wearing at SW19.

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But what followed quickly became one of the lighter moments of the day.

McIlroy turned towards Stoll and appeared to offer her the chance to pick a sweet.

She placed her hand on the bucket and took a brief moment to decide what she wanted.

However, just as she reached in to take one, McIlroy accidentally pulled the bucket away and started passing it along the row.

The whole exchange was caught by BBC cameras, with Balding unable to hide her amusement as she introduced the clip to viewers.

"This I think you're going to enjoy," she said. "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 leather."

Tim Henman then joked: "There's a good supply in that bucket. A few eclairs, a few sherbert lemons."

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Balding continued: "Erica then! She's just about to take one and he rips it away!"

McIlroy remained at Wimbledon deep into the evening and later watched Novak Djokovic beat Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets.

The Northern Irishman then received a special mention from Djokovic during the 24-time Grand Slam champion's on-court interview after the match.

Djokovic spotted McIlroy and several other golf stars in the crowd before joking that he wanted to get his hands on the famous Masters Green Jacket.

"Rory, Justin [Thomas], obviously Luke [Donald], it's nice to see you guys," Djokovic said.

"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."

Djokovic will return to action today.

The tennis legend is due to face 25th seed Arthur Rinderknech at 1.30pm.

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