Watch: Fan hit by Tiger Woods' ball was filming

For a moment there, Tiger Woods was leading the British Open all by himself. It was an astonishing moment in sports, a chance for a bygone legend to recapture a bit of lost glory … and, alas, it didn’t last. Woods faltered coming down the stretch, and Francesco Molinari ended up winning the whole dang thing.

But along the way, Woods gave us another vintage moment when he fired a shot into the gallery at the 11th hole … and the ball somehow spanged rapidly back toward the hole. The only way a shot would do that is if it hit something hard with velocity — something like bone or a cell phone.

Turns out, both were right! Woods’ shot rebounded off the phone of one Colin Hauck (among others, possibly) and saved him from potential out-of-bounds catastrophe. Unfortunately, Woods wasn’t able to take advantage of his good fortune; he double-bogeyed the hole, dropped out of first place, and wouldn’t ever get back.

Check out this video here from Hauck:

Woods gave Hauck a signed glove for his troubles, which is a nice gesture. But one thing you can notice from that video: you can’t see the ball. All you can hear is a growing sense of dread in the crowd, and then: boom. In other words, next time you’re at a golf tournament, keep that head on a swivel, everybody.

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Jay Busbee is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at jay.busbee@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter or on Facebook.

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