It's not terribly uncommon to see pro golfers shed some clothing and wade into water hazards in an effort to avoid having to take a penalty stroke, but Michael Brennan took it to a new level Thursday at the Zurich Classic of New Orleans.Brennan and his teammate, Johnny Keefer, started on the back nine in Thursday's opening round and when they got to the par-5 18th, things got messy. Tarps off in New Orleans 😳 pic.twitter.com/qtk9wxgyib— PGA TOUR (@PGATOUR) April 23, 2026More: 2026 Zurich Classic of New Orleans leaderboard, live updates, scoresBrennan hit his second shot into the water but was able to find his ball resting in a shallow area near the green.
In this situation, players will usually just take off their shoes or roll up their pant sleeves. Instead, Brennan popped the top and showed off the muscles.He squatted down to hit his ball from the water, and he did make contact (barely), sending it up into the air and right back into the water. The visual was hilarious, but what makes it even funnier is that the Zurich Classic isn't a normal stroke play event and saving a shot there really wouldn't have amounted to anything.
This is a team event, and the first-round format is best-ball. Keefer had already hit his second shot to a few yards in front of the green, meaning there was really no reason for Brennan to do this, other than maybe to work on his tan.Keefer ultimately made par and the duo made the turn in 4-under 32. They went on to birdie the next two holes to climb into the top 10 early Thursday.
And we can report that Brennan did, in fact, put his shirt back on. This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Michael Brennan goes shirtless for water ball at the Zurich Classic