Golf phenom Jordan Spieth caught a 300-pound shark in the Bahamas

(Image credit: Scott Halleran/Getty Images)

published 8 July 2015

And just in time for Shark Week!

Jordan Spieth, the 21-year-old Masters champ and recently crowned U.S. Open winner, took his talents to the water earlier this month while on vacation in the Bahamas. While in a boat on the way back from a snorkeling outing, Spieth cast a line in an area of water known for big fish. Something bit. "I was hooked on a tuna for about 45 minutes," Spieth said, while the boat's captain was scaring off smaller sharks that had come to prey on the fish. Suddenly, Spieth's line disappeared into the water with such force that he almost got pulled in.

Turns out, Spieth's original catch — a yellowfin tuna The New York Times described as "Shaquille O'Neal-size" — had been swallowed by a 12-foot-long, 300-pound blacktip shark, which had then hooked itself on Spieth's line. Ever the competitor, Spieth wrestled with the shark for more than two hours, taking a break in the middle to rest his tired arm. There wasn't enough room in the boat for the shark, however, so the captain "landed" the fish before freeing it from the hook.