Bees force Fergus off tee

Golf

Insects rather than eagles were uppermost in Keith Fergus' mind when a swarm of bees attacked him and his caddie while they were on the practice range following the third round of the Nortel Tucsan Arizona Open on Saturday.

Fergus ran several hundred feet along the first fairway to get away as his caddie, Artie Granfield, took even more drastic action by jumping into a lake. Fergus was stung on the head, neck and arms. Granfield, and three spectators were also stung.

"I got stung about 10 or 20 times," said Fergus, whose 67 moved him up to six strokes behind the leader, David Toms.

A crew from the Rural Metro firefighting company sprayed the area with a toxic foam which knocked out the bees, and a beekeeper removed the queen.