Vijay Singh befriends raccoon at TPC Sawgrass
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. -- Behind the far end of the driving range at TPC Sawgrass, where players come to prepare for the Players Championship in solitude, is a narrow ditch full of water bordered by railroad ties and pine straw. That's where a svelte raccoon was munching on chunks of banana Wednesday, a sweet treat thrown by a few laughing caddies.
Adam Scott, Nick Watney, Butch Harmon and a raft of other players and instructors went through their last-minute preparation on the sod above; the raccoon kept fishing banana chunks out of the straw.
"Vijay's been feeding that little guy crackers," Fred Funk said, alluding to his fellow Ponte Vedra resident Singh, a mainstay on the range. "He threw him a pickle, and [the raccoon] didn't want that. He threw him some lettuce and he didn't want that. He threw in a bag of chips, and he ate the whole thing."
Yes, the raccoon has the typical American diet.
TPC Sawgrass is full of wildlife--hawks, osprey, otters, snakes, armadillos and the rare alligator. But the furry guys with the black masks seem to have all the personality. Funk says two raccoons have been known to sneak into carts and steal food as golfers putt out on four. At least they don't take jewelry.
"At the Palm Course at Disney, 13th tee, there's one they've named Rocky Raccoon, and he steals everything," said Mark Long, Funk's caddie. "Wristwatches, whatever--if you leave it in your cart, it's his. They have a sign there warning people. They've never caught him, and they've never found his stash."
Posted by: Corrie Schuler | May 7, 2009 11:38:07 AM
Aww, Vijay finally has a friend.
Posted by: Harrison | May 6, 2009 10:39:14 PM
Well, DJ is just not getting bagged enough by his boyfriend so he takes it out on the board. Let him be.
Posted by: i dont like dj | May 6, 2009 10:07:44 PM
period
Posted by: DJ | May 6, 2009 9:07:20 PM
When asked, the raccoon confirmed that he indeed had a voracious appetite, similar to that of your typical American teenager:
"Yeah, ya know. These rich dudes leave their food in the cart when they go play a shot. They try and hide it but I'm wise. Some old coot went looking for his ball off the 9th the other day. Me and my buddy scored his ham sandwich and sports page. Had a nice Rolex too, but really, where would I wear it, around my neck?!"