Watch: Golfer kills bird at US Women’s Open

It looked like Nelly Korda’s meltdown would be the toughest watch on the 12th at the US Women’s Open on Thursday.

That was until Germany’s Isi Gabsa stepped onto the tee at the brutal 161-yard par-3 at Lancaster Country Club.

It seemed that – unlike so many of her fellow competitors – Gabsa had negotiated the tee shot without any trouble by finding the green.

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But in a horrific moment, TV cameras show Gabsa’s approach land directly onto a bird that had strayed onto the putting surface. A USGA official is then spotted walking onto the green and taking the lifeless bird away.

Gabsa eventually walked away with a par on the 12th, the treacherous downhill hole which proved a scorecard-wrecker for a host of players on the major’s opening day.

The 12th hole at Lancaster Country Club is NOT a birdie hole! #WomensUSOpenGolf pic.twitter.com/AOBZEoqQ7O

— Swing it and Ding it (@it_ding) May 30, 2024

The unfortunate incident went viral, however, and was compared by many on social media to another time a bird was struck inside the sporting arena over 20 years ago.

Baseball player Randy Johnson infamously threw a pitch that hit a flying bird during a training game for the Arizona Diamondbacks back in 2001.