Henrik Stenson is not your average bear, and maybe that's why the reigning Open champion decided to take on a caiman (which is a Southern Hemisphere version of a crocodile) at the 2016 Olympic men's golf tournament.
Stenson spotted a caiman looked his way with its head out of water on Saturday at the Olympic Golf Course in Rio de Janeiro, so, naturally, the Swede channeled his inner Chubbs Peterson from "Happy Gilmore" and poked the creature with a wedge.
Stenson in Rio. @CBCOlympics @CBCScottRussell @henrikstenson pic.twitter.com/JV4pgejnDR
— Joel Darling (@JWD99) August 13, 2016
“A little tickle with a lob wedge. I thought it could handle that, if it would have been twice the size, then you probably need to go into the longer irons,” Stenson said of the encounter on the 10th hole. “He wasn’t too big. He was facing the right way for me.”
Caimans are known to be more aggressive in chasing prey than their North American cousins, so Stenson is fortunate he didn't have run in a zig-zag pattern all the way to the green.
Since he managed to survive, Stenson is in good position to medal on Sunday in Brazil. He enters the final round trailing Justin Rose by a shot for the lead.