A strange scene turned scary Friday at the Maybank Malaysian Open, as Pablo Larrazabal jumped into a lake to escape an attack from a swarm of hornets.
The Spaniard was in the fifth fairway at Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club when he reportedly swatted a hornet off his nose, which caused several others to begin to attack him. In total, Larrazabal was stung more than 20 times around his head and neck before finally jumping in the water as a last resort.
“They were three times the size of bees. They were huge and like 30 or 40 of them started to attack me big time,” Larrazabal said. “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 ... It was the scariest moment of my career, for sure. I’ve never been so scared.”
After donning a replacement shirt, the 30-year-old remarkably went on to birdie the same hole where he was attacked, and played his five “post-hornet” holes in 2 under after receiving medical treatment. He took to Twitter following the round to update fans regarding his status:
In my room resting after a long and tough day out there... Head still in pain but i will be 100% and ready tomorrow to go for a low one...
— Pablo Larrazabal (@plarrazabal) April 18, 2014
There are alot of stories around the golf courses around the world but looks like i always have the crazy ones.Maybe i start to write a book
— Pablo Larrazabal (@plarrazabal) April 18, 2014
A winner earlier this year in Abu Dhabi, Larrazabal made the cut after rounds of 74 and 68, though he admitted that his approach on the fifth hole will now be a cautious one.
“It looks like I’ll be playing the weekend, so tomorrow it will be very, very scary to play that hole,” Larrazabal said. “I’m not sure what I’m going to do, but hopefully I will play it as quickly as I can.”