‘Go buy a lottery ticket’: Chevron contender hits shot in water — then the impossible happened

While it remains to be seen if the winner at this week’s Chevron Championship will jump into the “new Poppie’s Pond,” one player is happy to have already jumped out of one of the lakes at Carlton Woods.

And we’re not talking about Angel Yin herself, we mean her ball!

On the 12th hole during Saturday’s third round, Yin’s tee shot on the par-3 looked destined for the lake guarding the green and front pin location.

“This has to go,” said NBC on-course reporter Karren Stupples.

*Splash*

What came next was more unbelievable for Yin, who was in a tie for fourth at the time, just two back of Megan Khang and Allisen Corpuz at seven under.

Her ball hit something underneath the surface of the lake and bounced back into play, outside the penalty area, just short of the green.

The broadcasters were dumbfounded. The only conclusion they could make, given how it appeared the water wasn’t very shallow in the area, was that the ball struck a turtle.

“It must have hit a turtle,” Stupples said, stupefied by what had just happened.

“I hope not,” play-by-play man Terry Gannon said. “I hope it’s alright, put it that way.”

“That’s what I was thinking too, Karren,” added analyst Morgan Pressel. “Go buy a lottery ticket or something.”

Later, when the group got up to the green, Stupples reported she had looked down into the pond where the ball landed but couldn’t see anything that would have caused it to bounce out.

Undeterred, Yin nearly pulled off the unthinkable again. Her pitch from the bank nearly caught the left lip for an unlikely birdie, but it rolled a few feet by.

“One thing about Angel, she’s always chuckling,” Pressel said. “But that would make her smile even bigger.”

Yin tapped in the par afterward and couldn’t stop smiling as she walked off the green.

She made three birdies in her final four holes to shoot 67 and go into the final round with the share of the lead in a major for the first time in her career.