What’s the scariest moment you’ve ever experienced on a golf course? A sliding, downhill, left-to-right breaking five-footer to save the match is nerve-racking. Or maybe it’s out-of-bounds stakes just left of the fairway on the 18th hole, knowing you need a par, and having a bad case of the pull hooks. Both are definitely frightening situations.

Personally, the most scared I’ve been on a golf course was nearly taking a golf ball to the face when a less-than-skilled playing partner fired a hosel-rocket off the back of his club, through his own legs, and missed my nose by a few inches. Strange and terrifying things happen in the world of golf, but surely none compare to the scare that Pablo Larrazabal experienced today.

On hole No. 14 (his fifth hole) of the second round at the Maybank Malaysian Open, Larrazabal was attacked by a swarm of hornets. He was walking down the fairway and swatted an insect off of his nose, causing hornets to swarm, according to reports.

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Click here to watch the mayhem unfold

Due to evasive tactics, Larrazabal avoided any serious injury despite stings to the face and head. He attempted to brush them off with his hand and a towel, to no avail, and eventually resorted to jumping in a nearby lake.

“They were three times the size of bees,” said Larrazábal. “They were huge and like 30 or 40 of them started to attack me big time. I didn’t know what to do. My caddie told me to run, so I start running like a crazy guy, but the hornets were still there, so the other players told me to jump in the lake.”

Even more impressive than dodging the irritated hornets was his presence of mind to ditch his scorecard while under attack.  “I ran to the lake, threw my scorecard down, took off my shoes and jumped in the water. It was the scariest moment of my career, for sure. I’ve never been so scared.”

Luckily, treatment from the on-site referees and doctors allowed Larrazabal to continue playing. Despite the craziness, he birdied No. 14 when he resumed the round. He played the remaining holes with a shirt borrowed from tournament organizers in order to avoid further attack.

“The referees and a doctor took me aside and gave me a couple of injections and told me to relax,” he continued. “After the injections I felt a lot better and could continue. Without the help of the referees I couldn’t have finished the round, because I was in no state to play golf.”

Golf instructors and mental coaches speak a lot on “overcoming fear” or playing “fearless golf” in order to score your best, but I’m not sure they mean overcoming the fear of a deathly attack of hornets. Fear of failure is powerful, but being scared of dying requires a different level of mental toughness.

“It looks like I’ll be playing the weekend, so tomorrow it will be very, very scary to play that hole.” Larrazabal said about returning to the area of the attack. “I’m not sure what I’m going to do, but hopefully I will play it as quickly as I can.”

I’m sure his playing partners will understand his brisk play on No. 14 tomorrow. Larrazabal made the cut and sits at two-under par in a tie for 25th place. Tune into coverage of the Maybank Malaysian Open to see how he handles returning to the site of the attack tomorrow.