Golf balls disappear into water hazards all the time. What seldom happens is a fish showing up to claim one on camera. That is exactly the scene that has gone viral out of Trump National Golf Club Bedminster, where footage of Louis Oosthuizen watching his tee shot get gobbled up mid-flight by a fish lurking in the pond has left golf fans doing a double-take.

The clip was posted by Southern Guards GC, the South African-flagged LIV Golf team Oosthuizen captains: “A fish ate his ball! Never seen before ever,” and the team simply asked followers, “Have you ever seen this?” and fans took a hilarious take.

The clip showed Oosthuizen hitting a shot toward a green tucked behind a pond. The ball skipped the hazard line before splashing down near the reeds. A fish broke the surface right where the ball landed and swallowed it. Oosthuizen and his caddie stood frozen for a moment, stunned by what they had just watched, before breaking into disbelieving laughter.

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Odd wildlife moments like these are not new to pro golf, especially pond-adjacent holes. Lee Westwood found himself in a similar situation when he fished his ball out of a hazard during LIV Golf Riyadh earlier in 2025. Only then did he realize on the green that he had played the wrong ball entirely.

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Wildlife has interrupted golf before, too. Alligators have wandered onto Florida fairways for years, and fish have gotten in on the act: at the 1960 US Open, Tommy Bolt blamed a fish after hurling his driver into a lake, and a Florida gator was once filmed swallowing a ball that bounced off its head.

As for Oosthuizen, the South African has withdrawn from LIV Golf New York at Bedminster after a Tuesday practice round. He is still managing a recurring back injury that forced him out of the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale last month. Martin Vorster stepped into the Southern Guards lineup in his place.

Golf course ponds are often stocked with bass and bluegill to control algae, and fertilizer runoff makes the water nutrient-rich, so fish can grow large with little fishing pressure. Trump National Bedminster’s Fazio-designed Old Course leans into that setup: water comes into play on nearly half its holes, with seven hazards total and an island green on the par-4 6th.

While Oosthuizen’s bizarre moment captured attention at Trump National Bedminster, another LIV player claimed the title at LIV Golf New York.

Joaquin Niemann wins at Trump National Bedminster

Joaquin Niemann opened his weekend with a bogey-free 7-under 64, turning in 30 on the front nine to take the outright first-round lead. It was his first solo round one lead in LIV Golf since a 59 at Mayakoba back in February 2024.

Scheide brought more of the same strong performance. Niemann fired another bogey-free 65 to reach 13 under through 36 holes. He stretched his lead to five shots and remained the only player in the field yet to make a bogey all week. Furthermore, he has topped the strokes gained chart at the midway point in both driving and approach play.

Saturday brought a wobble in his performance. Niemann opened round three with a double bogey on the par-4 first, which was his first blemish on the card. But he steadied himself with three birdies to card a one-under 70. That pushed him to 14-under in an outright lead. In his direct competition is Harold Varner III, who has trimmed the cushion from five shots to two heading into the final round. Niemann called the rocky start “a little bit frustrating,” but he said that he would be able to reset quickly once he resumed after a weather delay.

Niemann carried that composure into Sunday, closing at 16-under 268 to beat Varner by three shots for his ninth individual LIV Golf title and second win of the season. The team title went the other way, with Bryson DeChambeau’s Crushers GC winning at 6-over for their 11th regular-season team title, extending their own record as LIV Golf’s winningest team. Torque GC finished tied for second with Legion XIII at 8-over.

The fish clip will probably stick around longer than this week’s leaderboard does. Southern Guards GC is already getting mileage out of it on social media, and that kind of footage tends to keep resurfacing long after the scores are forgotten. Oosthuizen’s bigger issue right now is his back. It kept him out of the Open Championship at Royal Birkdale, and now it’s kept him out of Bedminster too, so whether he’s healthy enough to play LIV Golf’s remaining events this season is the thing actually worth watching.