Bizarre scene as players duck for cover at Mexico Open

There was a bizarre scene during the opening round of this week’s Mexico Open when players at Vidanta Vallarta suddenly hit the deck – after being attacked by a swarm of BEES!

Television cameras captured the moment South Africa’s Erik van Rooyen was forced to back off as he prepared to hit his second shot into the par-4 tenth.

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The 33-year-old was filmed crouching to the ground and, as the on-course camera panned around, you could see his playing partners Francesco Molinari and Chez Reavie – and their caddies – doing likewise.

The cause of the disturbance was, as commentators put it, a “fog of bees” that suddenly blew through the area.

Indications are that nobody was stung by the swarm.

“I just saw them here and I just told my caddie, I’m like, ‘Bees, bees, bees,’ and he looks at me like I’m crazy,” said van Rooyen afterwards.

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“So, I dropped down, then he sees them, he dropped down. (Molinari) and (Reavie) look at me like I’m nuts and then they realised, like, 30 seconds later … the bees just went right at them.”

“It’s funny, but certainly don’t want to get stung by those bad boys.”

Watch the weird incident unfold for yourself:

"I have never seen anything like that."

A swarm of bees was probably not something @FredVR_ and crew saw coming @MexicoOpenGolf 😅 pic.twitter.com/4RjzysQ5qx

— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) April 27, 2023

Van Rooyen added that it wasn’t the first time he’d found himself in a situation like that.

“I can’t recall where exactly, but it was on a golf course in South Africa,” he said. “I’m over the ball and then you hear like a ‘zzzzz’. I look up and they’re there.”

Fortunately for the 2021 Barracuda Championship winner, he was able to re-focus quickly after the swarm passed. He parred that hole and went on to card a seven-under 64 to be one-shot off the early pace set by American Austin Smotherman.