Smylie Kaufman was hugging the hazard line while strolling down the sixth fairway at Bay Hill on Friday, when he suddenly realized he was on a collision course with one of the reptilian denizens of the deep at Arnold Palmer’s old stomping grounds.
Gator scares the daylights out of Smylie Kaufman at Bay Hill
Smylie Kaufman gives Bay Hill alligator a wide berth.
Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images
Unlike Cody Gribble, who got up way too close and personal with a gator (perhaps the same one?) on the same hole in Thursday’s opening round of the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Kaufman — well, he preferred a much safer detour around the large lizard.
Neither golfer, it turns out, made the cut. Kaufman carded a double-bogey on the par-5 sixth after having the daylights scared out of him and got bounced from the tournament with an 11-over. Gribble, though he birdied the same hole following his dalliance with the gator, finished his two days at 6-over, with the projected cut at 3-over.
