‘Full of danger, this shot’: Pro takes on rocks, hill, traffic and a truck (!)

Berry Henson swung, then he swung around and dropped his fairway wood. He had hooked his ball left on his second shot on the 16th at Al Mouj Golf course, and left was where you should not be.

But this was extreme. 

“Oh, this is full of danger, this shot,” an announcer on the broadcast said. 

Indeed. Ahead of the stroke, the Oman Open had already made a few headlines, though for news on who had been playing poorly. The Asian Tour tournament had drawn players from LIV Golf — the Saudi-backed series has invested heavily in the tour, and their golfers have used it as a way to gain world-ranking points — only for some notables to go home. Brooks Koepka shot 74 and 78 and was done. Louis Oosthuizen went 71-81 and was done. Charl Schwartzel was finished after shooting a 75 and a 78. 

Henson is still around, though. The American has played some on the DP World Tour, and he’s made a handful of starts on the PGA Tour, but he’s an Asian Tour regular; Henson’s played over 150 events on the series over the past dozen years. He’s won once. Henson’s also one of the good guys. 

In a video posted to the DP World Tour’s site two years ago entitled “Why Berry Henson became an Uber driver,” Henson explained, yes, why he became an Uber driver, in 2016. And here is why. Out with a wrist injury, he had still wanted to raise money for a charity in Thailand, and so a pro golfer became a chauffeur in Palm Springs, California.  

“And then I just enjoyed doing it, and so I kept doing it, and it’s four and a half years now, and I’ve already tallied up about 2,500 rides on Uber,” the now-43-year-old said on the video. 

And on Saturday, he hit his third shot on the par-5 16th at Al Mouj from a rocky area to the left of the green. 

In front of him was a sandy mound. 

To his right was a highway, with, you know, cars.

To his left was a parked pickup truck. (Why it was there is a good question.) 

Wild. 

He was not out of bounds — it was unclear, though, if he had taken a drop from the truck; a tweet suggested he had — but he was in trouble. 

“For your viewing pleasure. Lol” Henson tweeted, alongside a video of the shot.. 

“Dam that is wide……” tweeted fellow pro Scott Hend. 

Then he hit. 

And avoided the rocks. And the hill. And the truck. And he didn’t hit it right and into oncoming traffic. 

His ball landed on the green, about 30 feet away. 

“Oh, how’s this for a golf shot.” an announcer on the broadcast said.  

“Well done, Berry Henson,” another said. “Nice recovery.” 

It’s here where we have to note he three-putted for a bogey six, but you know, he ducked danger, too. Henson will start Sunday’s final round five shots back of leader Takumi Kanaya.