Charl Schwartzel's tee shot on the 134-yard seventh hole landed on the green, spun backward, and trickled into the pond. Golfers lose balls to water every day. What came next was different. A fish rose out of the murk and swallowed it.
The moment was caught on video during the final round of a LIV Golf tournament in Bedminster, New Jersey, on Aug. 9, according to Reuters. Schwartzel, the South African who won the 2011 Masters, took a one-stroke penalty and settled for bogey. A broadcaster calling the round said he had never seen anything like it.
The diner appeared to be a largemouth bass. According to New Hampshire Fish and Game, largemouth bass are visual hunters that swallow prey whole and strike at sudden movement — the very reflex that makes them so easy to fool with an artificial lure.
Anglers spend good money on lures built to trigger that reflex. This one settled for a golf ball.
Rick Good spent ten years in the newspaper business, including with The News & Observer (Raleigh, NC) and The Greenville News (Greenville, SC). He co-wrote, with Melinda Coleman, Rutledge to Riley: Governors of South Carolina, 1776–Present (Published by The Greenville News), and is the author of Mind Games Trivia #1 (Amazon). He has recently spent 15 years creating original trivia content through Sounds Good Mobile Entertainment and continues that with his new company, SGME Software. He edits The Smart Reader’s money, real estate, and business coverage.
