"Luckily, a nice guy volunteered."
/Garry Smits tracked down Michael Bradley's driver retriever Norman-Gerard Merizzi (you'll understand if you were watching the late afternoon Players telecast).
Bradley said he dropped the driver in disgust over hitting a pull-hook into the water, then turned to see his driver bouncing and flipping into the water. Playing partner Louis Oosthuizen tried at first to use a putter to hook the driver, held up by Bradley and Bradley's caddie Noel Zelnik, but was unsuccessful.
Enter Merizzi, who said he moved to the area recently from Orlando. He came under the ropes (not stopped by marshals) and volunteered to climb down the steep face of the bulkhead. He used Oosthuizen's driver to hook Bradley's club out of the water.
"I let go of the driver and said, ‘oh, crap ... what did I do?'" Bradley said. "It just bounced and flipped and went in. It was like slow motion. Luckily, a nice guy volunteered."
Bradley gave Merizzi an autographed glove, and Oosthuizen's caddie Zack Rasego gave him a ball.
What Smits does not mention? Water moccasins populate these lakes, making this man, well, bold.
Here's the video courtesy of the PGA Tour. No, really they posted it.