By Anthony Caruso III | Publisher
During the RBC Heritage on Friday in Hilton Head, S.C., PGA golfer Kelly Kraft hit the ball off the tee. He said it felt like a clean shot on the par 3 14th hole, bug the ball hit a bird mid-flight.
The ball fell into the water near the hole. He attempted to use the cancel-and-replay rule; however, tournament officials rejected that notion.
Kelly Kraft is seen here taking a tee shot at the Shell Houston Open (Getty Images)
Kelly Kraft is seen here taking a tee shot at the Shell Houston Open (Getty Images)
The cancel-and-replay rule can be used when a ball hits a man-madd object, like a power line. But since a bird is not a man-made object, he was assessed a penalty and was given a drop near the water.
“It cost me the cut, most likely,” Kraft said to PGATour.com. “There was a helping wind, and I hit a 7-iron, caught it perfect. It was probably 30 yards off the tee box and this giant, black bird swooped in front of it and hit it and the ball fell 20-yards short in the water.
“It would have been in the middle of the green. It might have been close. I got screwed.”
The bird, according to PGATour.com, flew away after being hit.
But like anything involving animals being attacked or potentially injured, PETA has had to voice their opinion. People for the Ethical Treatment is Animals (PETA) we’re not sympathetic about what happened to Kraft.
“PETA is glad the bird is OK and sorry Kelly Kraft didn’t advance, but that’s not the birds fault,” PETA representative Lisa Lange said, according to the USA Today. “Of course, he would have advanced if he’d played better on [the] other holes — so practice, practice, practice.”
