PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. – Greg Owen would never be confused for an environmentalist, but the Englishman did his best Marlin Perkins impersonation on Monday at TPC Sawgrass.
Toward the end of Owen’s practice round he noticed a blue jay that had fallen out of a tree and into a pond. Just as the bird hit the water a large turtle dove into the pond headed toward the struggling bird.
Owen stripped down to his underwear and waded into the pond to rescue the bird, placing it under a nearby tree and out of harms way.
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“I’d like to think that other people would do it as well,” Owen told GolfChannel.com on Wednesday.
After playing the 16th and 17th holes and teeing off on No. 18, Owen walked over to check on the bird again and found it in the same spot sleeping.
“I was worried something would get it on the ground so I put it up in the tree,” he said.
Owen’s rescue has gone viral thanks to a video posted on Facebook by his swing coach Tony Ziegler.
“I had no idea how big it had gotten,” he said.