It was a marathon Friday at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans, and it would appear one fan, in particular, may have been enjoying himself a little too much near the par-3 17th tee.
In an attempt to get back on track following a deluge on Thursday, defending champions Billy Horschel and Scott Piercy were playing the eighth hole of their second round after finishing their first round earlier in the day when an unruly fan decided to get himself an escorted walk off of the property.
Facing a daunting shot — 208 yards with water up the entire left side — Horschel bailed out to the right side of the green, but as his shot apexed, the fan screamed, “Get in the water!”
Horschel could be seen turning around to confront the fan before cameras cut away from him, although his voice could still be heard on the broadcast.
(Note: there’s some adult language in the video)
Bet the guy walked away when Billy Horschel came over #ZurichClassic pic.twitter.com/UVLUdZFbeY
— AJP (@pricey43) April 27, 2019
Playing foursomes — modified alternate shot — Piercy was able to knock Horschel’s wayward tee shot to inside seven feet from 25 yards away. Horschel cleaned that up as the defending champs went on to post a solid 4-under par round to move into a tie for 11th place at 10-under par before play was suspended due to darkness.
Horschel apologized on the broadcast for his choice of words when he was being interviewed between shots by on-course announcer Billy Kratzert, and then again on social media following the round.
Apologize for the knee jerk reaction on 17 tee. ???
Other than that, it was a good day. Nothing special from @ScottPiercyPGA today. Just good solid play. Special stuff hopefully this weekend. @Zurich_Classic #iloveNOLA
— Billy Horschel (@BillyHo_Golf) April 26, 2019
“Apologize for the knee jerk reaction on 17 tee,” he wrote. “Other than that, it was a good day. Nothing special from @ScottPiercyPGA today. Just good solid play. Special stuff hopefully this weekend. @Zurich_Classic #iloveNOLA”
