Eric van Loen was lined up to hit his tee shot at the 17th hole of the PGA Tour’s Valspar Championship when he noticed the confusion. His knees were slightly bent and his arms were positioned in the starting position of the swing.
And then he saw a squirrel.
An animal seemed to approach the tee box, and when van Roen retreated, Broadcast microphones caught him saying apologetically“Sorry. Squirrel.”
It wasn’t a significant shot for Van Ruen, who hadn’t broken 70 in each of the first three rounds, but it was the only one interrupted by Rhys at the Copperhead Course at Innisbrook Resort in Palm Harbor, Florida on Sunday. There was no.
About 45 minutes later, the PGA Tour murmured Another clip of a squirrel running on the putting green An unidentified golfer stood a few feet behind the ball.
“There are others,” said one of the broadcasters. “Or he ran very fast from his 17-year-old to his 4-year-old, which is quite a move. Watch out for the squirrels at Innisbrook today.”
Van Loen finished with a bogey on the 17th hole after Rhys was out of the way.
As the Valspar Championship entered its final phase on Sunday afternoon, Adam Schenk birdied the 12th hole to take a one-shot lead, while Jordan Spieth and Tommy Fleetwood were one stroke behind.
Taylor Moore was also near the top of the leaderboard at 8 under.
Sam Barnes, winner of the last two editions of the Valspar Championship, finished the event at 5-under after posting a 4-under 67 to close out the weekend.
If Schenck can maintain his advantage, it will be his 165th PGA Tour victory since joining the Tour in 2018.
Nor did he finish the tournament as a runner-up. The best finish for Schenk was his tie for third at the Shriners Children’s Open in October 2021.
