Smylie Kaufman shares surprising health update on bird hit by tee shot at Cognizant Classic

It’s been almost a quarter-century since Randy Johnson’s infamous pitch in spring training when he accidentally obliterated a bird that flew across the mound.

Golfer Ryan Gerard has since followed suit at the Cognizant Classic in Florida on Thursday.

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On the seventh hole of the Champion Course at the PGA National Resort in Palm Beach Gardens, Jupiter resident Gerard stepped up to the tee on the par-3.

After launching an iron, the ball wasn’t in the air long before it struck a passing bird.

Despite it’s slight deviation, the shot still somehow travelled 218 yards and landed on the green.

Whilst he didn’t hit a second birdie – pardon the pun – the 26-year-old did somehow manage to save par.

Fortunately, the bird escaped death, according to a report from Golf Channel’s Smylie Kaufman.

“I can report… the bird is ALIVE and well,” Kaufman posted on X

“Being told the bird pulled a 360 madden juke on the golf ball. May have lost a feather but the young fella is flying free.”

Gerard avoids same fate as Randy Johnson

Gerard entered the tournament as one of the betting favorites after his hot start to 2026 in which he recorded runner-up finishes at both the Sony Open and the American Express, as well as the field being relatively weak.

But he struggled throughout the day and finished the first round two-over-par, only good enough for T82nd on the leaderboard.

“I guess it was my Randy Johnson moment,” Gerard said afterwards. “When you’re kind of over the golf ball looking sideways, your peripheral’s not that good.

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“And I guess a bird flew, like, right kind of where I was trying to hit it.

“I don’t think the bird got hit. I think it kind of juked it, but I don’t know. It all kind of happened quickly, and it wasn’t something I was expecting or could see until after I hit the shot.

“So just kind of immediately off the face, first thing, look up, see bird, and was just like, oh gosh. ‘Holy cow, like what happened?’

“I think the bird flew away. I think the bird’s fine. I hope the bird’s doing all right.

“But, yeah, I don’t think the bird actually got hit. I think the bird, it was a very close call.”

It was a very close call indeed as Gerard avoided what Johnson could not.

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Back in 2001 in an MLB spring training game against the San Francisco Giants, the then-Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher threw a pitch and as it moved toward the plate, it struck an oncoming dove who flew right into it.

While there was confusion over whether the umpires would call a ball, the pitch was ultimately ruled dead, as was the same fate of the dove, whose feathers sickeningly exploded all over the field.

Speaking in July 2024, the ‘Big Unit‘ said: “People go, ‘Hey aren’t you the pitcher that hit the bird?’ 

“And I look at them and I go, ‘I played 22 years! And I did a lot more than kill a bird.'”

The National Baseball Hall of Famer never lived that moment down, and took it in good stead as his Randy Johnson Photography logo depicts a bird lying on his back.

Gerard may perhaps suffer a similar outcome as the years go by, though the fact that the bird survived may save him from years of torment.

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