10-Foot Alligator Makes For One Heck Of A Water Hazard

The RBC Heritage (formerly the Heritage Classic) is going down in Hilton Head, and this being South Carolina, most of nature is trying to kill you. Brian Gay's third shot on the par-5 15th avoided the water hazard, but the water hazard came up to meet him, in the form of a 10-foot alligator.

"I wasn't going to go near him, but my caddy's not scared of him," Gay said. He could have taken a drop without penalty, but wasn't sure of the rules concerning live hazards. His caddy, Kip Henley, chased the obstinate gator off with a bunker rake, though it took a few tries. And the gator merely backed down, not backed off, setting up shot just far enough away for Gay to hurry a shot.

"He'd go under, and then you don't know where he went, and a couple times he came back at him," said Gay, the 2009 Heritage champion. "I didn't know what was going to happen. Once I saw him 30 feet away I knew I had time to hit it and get out of there."

Heritage notebook [Myrtle Beach Online]