B Patient

Has anyone ever figured out how to solve this one without using a shortcut? I've tried every route I can find and haven't had any luck. The only solution I can see is possibly luring the R bot onto the grass and maneuvering onto his helmet after positioning the ball right near the star block in a manner that will cause R to take one last right turn. No matter how many times I've tried this approach I haven't been able to put the ball quite where it needs to be.

Am I missing something obvious? I may have developed tunnel vision staring at this puzzle so much!

By the way...to use the shortcut, just miss getting on the very first "sky tram" and falling down to the star block.