Golf is a weird and wonderful sport, and there have been some truly bizarre things that have happened between the ropes throughout the years.
From a spectator running onto the course and taking Rory McIlroy’s club in 2021, to Joel Dahmen taking his shirt off on the 16th hole at the Waste Management Phoenix Open after holing out in 2022.
Golf is the greatest sport in the world in my eyes, and the reason for that isn’t just because of the extraordinary talents of the best players on the planet.
Nobody ever masters this game. Ian Baker-Finch won The Open in 1991 before losing his game and never tasting victory again.
There are numerous cases of that happening. For every Scottie Scheffler and McIlroy there is a Baker-Finch and a Martin Kaymer.
Golf is a game that brings you crashing back down, whenever you feel like you’ve found something to take you to the next level.
It also has a habit of throwing up some incredibly interesting storylines.
Pablo Larrazabal got stung more than 20 times by hornets on the golf course
Larrazabal endured an absolute nightmare of a situation way back in 2014.
The Spaniard was playing in a DP World Tour event out in Kuala Lumpur, when disaster struck on the 14th hole on day one of the tournament.
A swarm of hornets surrounded him as he walked away from the rough back onto the fairway.
He tried fighting them off with a hat and a golf towel, but to no avail, before acting on his playing partners’ advice and jumping in the lake.
After drying off, Larrazabal hit his approach shot to around 8 feet and made birdie – quite incredible really after what he had just been through.
The medics at the tournament were said to be very worried about Larrazabal, but he insisted that he wanted to play on.
He shared how scary the situation was at the time immediately after finishing his round.
“They were three times the size of bees,” Larrazabal said. “They were huge and like 30 or 40 of them started to attack me big time. I didn’t know what to do. My caddie told me to run, so I start running like a crazy guy, but the hornets were still there, so the other players told me to jump in the lake.
“I ran to the lake, threw my scorecard down, took off my shoes and jumped in the water. It was the scariest moment of my career, for sure. I’ve never been so scared.“
Incredibly, Larrazabal finished the week in eighth place on eight-under-par, and earned just over $50,000 for his troubles.
Who is Larrazabal and how many times has he won in professional golf?
Larrazabal, 41, is a member of the DP World Tour.
He has nine DP World Tour wins to his name, with his most recent one coming in May 2023.
His best finish in a major is a tie for 30th at The Open in 2011.
Larrazabal is not well known in America, but he has a real reputation in Europe of being one of the best exponents at moving the golf ball both left to right, and right to left.
The Spaniard still has plenty of years left ahead of him in the game.
He’ll be looking to get into double digits for wins…and avoid getting stung by any more hornets before his hangs up his clubs!
Receive exclusive golf news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
