"Bees, bees, bees" - Golfer says the Vidanta field was buzzing with bees on Day 1 of the Mexico Open

A swarm of bees took over the Mexico Open at Vidanta field on Thursday, during the first round. Erik Van Rooyen was playing on the 18th hole when he observed thousands of insects flying towards him.

Within seconds, the bees surrounded the golf course and the caddie and other players laid down on the ground to avoid any incident. After the round, Erik Van Rooyen spoke about the incident in his interview with the media.

He said:

"I was over the ball with a 4-iron and looked up and I just saw them here and I told my caddie I was like, 'bees, bees, bees' and he looks at me like I'm crazy. So, I drop down. Then he sees and he's dropped down. Frankie (Molinari) and Chez, they look at me like I'm nuts. And then they realzise, like 30 seconds later, the bees just went right at them. So, yeah, it's funny, but.. certainly don't want to get strung by those bad boys."

Erik Van Rooyen came in second place after the first round of the Mexico Open at Vidanta. He began the competition with a birdie on the first hole and then added another on the third.

Rooyen finished with a score of -7 after making an eagle on the 15th hole. He tied up with Tano Gaya after a round of 64.

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2023 Mexico Open at Vidanta Day 1 leaderboard

The 2023 Mexico Open at Vidanta wrapped up with the first round on Thursday, April 27. Austin Smotherman took the lead in the tournament with a score of -8.

Erik Von Rooyen settled for second position in a two-way tie alongside Tano Gaya with a scoring deficit of seven. Tony Finau finished in fourth place after playing a round of -6. Raul Pereda also tied up in fourth place alongside Stephan Jaeger, Erik Cole, and Taylor Pendrith.

The defending Champion and current World No. 1 golfer, Jon Rahm, secured 14th place with a score of -4.

Here's the Mexico Open on the Vidanta leaderboard after the first round.

• 1 Austin Smotherman: -8
• T2. Erik van Rooyen: -7
• T2. Tano Goya: -7
• T4. Stephan Jaeger: -6
• T4. Eric Cole: -6
• T4. Taylor Pendrith: -6
• T4. Raul Pereda: -6
• T4. Tony Finau: -6
• T9. Richy Werenski: -5
• T9. Austin Cook: -5
• T9. Sean O'Hair: -5
• T9. Brandon Wu: -5
• T9. Scott Harrington: -5
• T14. Jon Rahm: -4
• T14. Gary Woodland: -4
• T14. Matt Wallace: -4
• T14. Beau Hossler: -4
• T14. Ben Taylor: -4
• T14. Carson Young: -4
• T14. Harry Hall: -4
• T14. Kevin Roy: -4
• T14. Trevor Werbylo: -4
• T14. Vincent Norrman: -4
• T14. Jimmy Walker: -4
• T14. Andrew Novak: -4
• T14. Andrew Putnam: -4
• T14. James Hahn: -4
• T14. Will Gordon: -4
• T14. Sebastian Vazquez: -4
• T14. Nicolai Hojgaard: -4
• T31. Grayson Murray: -3
• T31. Michael Kim: -3
• T31. Emiliano Grillo: -3
• T31. Mark Hubbard: -3
• T31.Derek Ernst: -3
• T31, Garrick Higgo: -3
• T31. Cody Gribble: -3
• T31. Dylan Wu: -3
• T31. Akshay Bhatia: -3
• T31. Cristobal Del Solar: -3
• T31. Joseph Bramlett: -3
• T31. Lanto Griffin: -3
• T31. Maverick McNealy: -3
• T31. Cameron Champ: -3
• T31. Chez Reavie: -3
• T31. Francesco Molinari: -3
• T31. Brice Garnett: -3
• T31. Ben Martin: -3
• T31. Matthias Schmid: -3