It could have been a dangerous moment for Cody Gribble when he encountered an alligator Thursday in Orlando, Fla.
The PGA Tour pro, who hails from Dallas, walked up on the 8-foot alligator basking in the sun near the water's edge on the sixth hole at the Arnold Palmer Invitational. Where others may have avoided the gator, or at the very least ignored it, Gribble took a different approach.
He casually detoured toward the alligator and pushed the reptile by the tail back into the water.
Gribble told Golf Week that he hoped it might improve his game that day.
"Gator lo¡oked like he needed some exercise, I don't know," he said. "He was sitting right there in the way, and I guess I was struggling today, I wanted to get some adrenaline going somehow."
It wasn't the first time Gribble had been that close to an alligator, he said, and he didn't seem too worried about it being able to catch him. In fact, he said he's had an alligator turn toward him before, but they hadn't gotten close enough to do any damage.
"It's probably frowned upon, but I wasn't too worried about it at the time," Gribble said. "It's like a jolt, it's quick, you know, they're not going to catch you a couple steps down."
Gribble finished the day with a 5-over 77 after the first round. He shot a 1-over 73 Friday and missed the cut.
Tribute to The King
Sam Saunders started the tribute with a drive from the spot on the Bay Hill range where his grandfather, Arnold Palmer, used to practice.
Sixty more players followed, one after the other, ending with defending champion Jason Day.
As soon as one player hit his tee shot, the player next to him began his swing. Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! From right to left down the range, the balls soared against a blue sky. The sequence was golf's version of a 21-gun salute.
The opening ceremony was a new tradition at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, the first without its tournament host and golf's most beloved figure.
"Let's make him proud and hit this one hard," Saunders said.
Wednesday was filled with more stories and more memories of Palmer, who died Sept. 25 in Pittsburgh. The tributes figure to continue through the final round.
Is that legal?
Cameron Rupp is a fan favorite in Philadelphia until football season starts.
Rupp had a breakout year for the Phillies in 2016, smacking 43 extra-base hits as he replaced the beloved Carlos Ruiz as the team's starting catcher.
But Rupp grew up in Dallas and loves the Cowboys. That doesn't sit well in Philadelphia where Eagles fans are obsessed with hating America's Team. Rupp enjoys posting about the Cowboys on Twitter, especially after they win, so he had plenty of opportunities because Dallas was 13-3 last season.
He said he has received quite the number of comments.
"I can't betray the team I grew up rooting for because of where my job takes me," Rupp said. "I get grief for it. It's all in good fun. Their [replies] I'm sure are not in good fun, and that's fine. I got thick skin. I try to have as much fun as I can and throw some sarcasm in there."
Sports on 03/18/2017