Billy Horschel can be kind of intense. He’ll get into it with unruly fans. He’ll blast fellow tour pros. He’ll thrown an on-course tantrum or two (yes, even at Augusta National). In fact, the Florida Gators product can be so fiery, he even squares up to actual gators.
Just ask the gallery at PGA National. During Horschel’s opening round at the Cognizant Classic, he came to face to face with an alligator as it ambled onto the course from a nearby water hazard. Horschel could have kept walking and let the grounds crew deal with the apex predator, but he took matters into his own hands, prodding the gator back into the water with nothing more than a lob wedge to protect himself. Check it out:
Takes a Gator to tame a gator here at PGA National pic.twitter.com/jc8SG9VjcR
— Paul Hodowanic (@PaulHodowanic) February 27, 2025
This is the part where we say, “Don’t try this at home, these guys are trained professionals,” but honestly, the pros probably shouldn’t be tangling with alligators either. Just ask Chubbs Peterson.
This isn’t Horschel’s first gator rodeo, however. “That’s a Gator getting a gator,” someone in the gallery shouted. “That’s his roommate right there!” another chimed in. Safe to say, Horschel’s time spent in The Swamp prepared for this moment and he handled it like a champion. For his sake, we also hope he knows how to wrestle bears, because if the alligators don’t get you at PGA National, the Bear Trap will.
