Squirrels interrupt play at the Valspar Championship on the PGA Tour
By the time he noticed the disorder, Eric Van Rooyen was lined up to shoot the tee on the 17th hole at Valspar on the PGA Tour — his knees slightly bent, his arms in the starting position for his swing.
Then he saw a squirrel.
The animal seemed to have approached its tee box, and when Van Rooyen stepped back, it was A radio microphone captured him apologizing and saying“Sorry. Squirrel.”
Although it’s not a pivotal shot for Van Rooyen, who had yet to break 70 in each of his first three innings, it wasn’t the only interruption due to a squirrel on Sunday at Copperhead Course at the Innisbrouck Resort in Palm Harbor, Florida.
About 45 minutes later, the PGA Tour chirp Another clip of a squirrel running across the golf green An unknown golfer also stood a few feet behind his ball.
“And there’s more,” said one announcer. “Or he runs very fast from 17 to 4, but that would be a big move. So watch out for squirrels today at Innisbrook.”
After the squirrel was out of the way, Van Rooyen finished with a bogey on the 17th hole.
As the Valspar Championships entered the final stage on Sunday afternoon, Adam Schenck took a one-stroke lead with a birdie on the 12th hole, while Jordan Spieth and Tommy Fleetwood both sat close behind.
Taylor Moore was also near the top of the leaderboard at 8-under.
Sam Burns, who has won the last two editions of the Valspar Championship, finished the event 5-under after shooting a 4-under, 67 to cap off the weekend.
If Schenk maintains his advantage, it will be his first win on the PGA Tour in his 165th event since joining the tour in 2018.
He had never finished in a tournament as a runner-up, and Schenk’s best result came in October 2021, when he tied for third in the Shriners Children’s Open.
