Bay Hill’s gator stories have no end. Almost a decade ago, in 2017, after having a bad day at the Arnold Palmer Invitational, Cody Gribble needed an adrenaline rush. Many would choose a quick workout, but the 35-year-old chose…let’s say, a more natural way.

On the first day at the sixth hole, he came across an alligator relaxing by the lake. Gribble quickly bent down and nudged its tail. Scared, the gator jumped into the water and swam away. It wasn’t a Thursday today, but Rickie Fowler gave us a throwback to that iconic moment, and I’m not talking about sharing videos!

The PGA Tour tweeted a clip of Fowler and his caddie, Ricky Romano, walking close to Lake Tibet. That’s when the duo spotted a gator popping its head out of the water, looking at them. With the Californian in no mood to be messed with, the caddie and the golfer pretended to run towards the gator. It may have been just fun, or maybe the same adrenaline rush that Gribble once sought.

But seeing the two coming, the gator quickly got its head under the water and swam away. Fowler and Romano can be seen laughing after that, and who wouldn’t if they gave a gator a run for its money, quite literally!

When the commentators first spotted Fowler and Romano, they warned them not to get close to the water. But after looking at how they reacted, they had a huge laugh. After that, they reacted, “You gotta love it!” While there is no collection of Fowler’s other encounters with a gator, for Gribble, it wasn’t new. And he had a trick prepared…

“Gator looked like he needed some exercise, I don’t know. He was sitting right there in the way and I guess I was struggling today, I wanted to get some adrenaline going somehow,” Gribble said in 2017. “It’s like a jolt, it’s quick, you know, they’re not going to catch you a couple steps down.”

Gribble apparently has been face-to-face with some gators in his lifetime. He even owns a pair of gator-skin boots, which are now frowned upon for animal cruelty, but he got them a long time back. And if any of that sounds crazy to you, the golfer had already given a quip response to it: “You should meet my father, Bill Gribble.”

While Roman or Fowler didn’t come in contact with the gator this year, their attitude suggested they would have done the same. But Fowler can’t afford distractions right now. He has the biggest things to worry about at Bay Hill Club.

Rickie Fowler is a few strokes away from achieving his goal

Rickie Fowler is not exactly in contention to win the title. The 2026 Arnold Palmer Invitational is primarily being battled between Daniel Berger and Akshay Bhatia. Not that the six-time PGA Tour champion can’t put himself into the picture. But his priorities may lie somewhere else this Sunday: qualify for the upcoming Masters.

All Fowler needs is to finish solo fifth or better in the 2026 Arnold Palmer Invitational to make it to Augusta National this year. He is five strokes away from the position after playing nine holes. It will be a tall task to achieve if he wants to get it done at Bay Hill itself. It’s not Fowler’s only opportunity.

Three top-15 finishes before the 2026 Masters Tournament will also do the job. And he is already sitting at T12 after playing 63 holes. But after coming so close to the top-5, he might not get a better opportunity to book his ticket to the first major of the season.

So Rickie Fowler should forget about the gators and focus on the leaderboard. That might help him perform better and hopefully make it into the top-5.