Larrazabal stung into action after an early dip
SPANISH golfer Pablo Larrazabal found the water yesterday — but it had nothing to do with a wayward shot! The 30-year-old posted a remarkable 68 at the Maybank Malaysian Open despite jumping into a lake after being attacked by hornets. The incident happened on the fifth hole at the Kuala Lumpur course — Larrazabal’s 14th. ‘I hit my tee shot just right of the bunker and chipped it out quite well,’ Larrazabal said. ‘I’m walking along and suddenly I felt something on my nose. I swatted it away and suddenly... they were not bees, they were three times the size of bees (Picture 1). ‘They were huge and 30 or 40 of them started to attack me big time. I didn’t know what to do. My caddie told me to run, so I started running like a crazy guy, but the hornets were still there. ‘The other players told me to jump in the lake, so I ran to the lake, threw my scorecard down, took off my shoes and jumped into the lake (Picture 2). I’ve never been so scared. ‘I had to throw my shirt and hat away, and the towel I’d been swatting them with. A doctor gave me a couple of injections and told me to relax. After the injections I felt a lot better and could continue. ‘Tomorrow it will be very, very scary to play that hole.’ After drying off and receiving treatment (Picture 3), Larrazabal went on to birdie the par five and make another on the seventh. Later he said on Twitter: ‘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... ‘There are a lot of stories around the golf courses around the world but looks like I always have the crazy ones.’ The incident overshadowed another good day for Lee Westwood, who added a 66 to his opening 65 to lead on 13 under.