Centurion - A swarm of bees accounted for ‘shot of the day’ as South Africa’s Erik van Rooyen took evasive action during the first round of the Mexico Open on Thursday.
The quick thinking from Van Rooyen saw him dive on the ground as he called to his playing partners Chez Reavie and Francesco Molinari to do the same, as a swarm of bees flew towards the golfers.
After the round, Van Rooyen, who carded an impressive seven-under 64, recounted the unusual incident.
“I just saw them here and I just told my caddie, I’m like, ‘Bees, bees, bees,’ and he looks at me like I’m crazy,” said Van Rooyen.
Beware of bees 🐝![CDATA[]]>😂 @MexicoOpenGolf pic.twitter.com/reDNxP7VfH
— Golf on CBS ⛳ (@GolfonCBS) April 27, 2023
“So, I dropped down, then he sees them, he dropped down. [Molinari] and [Reavie] look at me like I’m nuts and then they realised, like, 30 seconds later … the bees just went right at them.”
“It’s funny, but certainly don’t want to get stung by those bad boys.”
Van Rooyen’s countryman, Dylan Frittelli said encountering a swarm of bees back home in South Africa was indeed not that rare: “Luckily he's seen this in South Africa a few times so he knew what to do.”
Despite the moment of distraction, Van Rooyen was able to finish off his round to lie one shot off the lead in a tie for second alongside Tano Goya of Argentina. American Austin Smotherman led the way on eight-under 63.
The 33-year-old Van Rooyen came into the event off two missed cuts in a row, with his last top-10 finish coming with a tie for sixth in January at The American Express.
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