An unusual player sauntered onto the green at the PGA National Tour on Thursday afternoon, but a quick-thinking golfer shooed it away before it wreaked any havoc.
Billy Horschel went face-to-face with an alligator in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. After the reptile interrupted his game, the golfer grabbed a 60-degree wedge to poke the gator in its shoulder and then guided it back into the water, according to video shared on social media by Paul Hodowanic, a staff writer for PGATOUR.com.
“That’s a gator getting a gator,” someone can be heard saying in the background of the video. Horschel played college golf for the University of Florida Gators.
The encounter occurred after Horschel had just finished the sixth hole at the PGA National, he said after the fact in video posted by Hodowanic.
Horschel was on his way to the seventh hole when he saw the alligator making its way across the green. A nearby officer tried to shoo the alligator away but wasn’t having any luck.
Horschel knew the options: He could have either waited for someone to grab a rake at hole eight and come back to take on the gator, or he, only about 30 yards away, could have grabbed a club himself to attempt to push the animal away.
So Horschel grabbed the club, knowing the officer needed help and that the gator “was going nowhere good,” Horschel said.
“I mean, I’m not afraid of gators,” Horschel said. “Listen, as I tell most people, I said, they’re more afraid of you. The majority of the time, they’re only going to come after you during mating season where they’re a little aggressive and then if you’re around their nest when they’ve got some eggs.”
Maybe Horschel wasn’t afraid of the gator, but he was fearful for his club. He said he picked up the 60-degree wedge because he knew he had two extras in his locker.
“I grew up with my dad grabbing their tails when they’re on the side of the bank and shooing them back into the water,” Horschel said. “I’ve never touched a tail with my hands but I’ve done it with a club so it’s not that big of a deal.”
Horschel ended up shooting a 5-under 66 for the first round of the tournament.
