FanHouse Tripp Isenhour

Apparently these days, if you kill an animal people sure do make a fine ruckus about it.

Everyone's favorite professional golfer turned hawk murderer, Tripp Isenhour, pleaded no contest on Friday to intentionally killing a hawk and after all the dust he blew in the air around these parts, didn't get much of a sentence.

Attorney David de Armas said Friday that Isenhour agreed to one year of supervised probation, four hours of anger management classes and 100 hours of community service. Forty hours must be performed at a wildlife or animal shelter. He also must pay a $500 fine.

Isenhour was charged with animal cruelty and killing a migratory bird. He was accused of hitting the bird with a golf shot when its loud chirps interrupted the filming of an instructional video in Orlando.

This entire thing came because Isenhour was annoyed at a bird when filming an instructional golf video and instead of running at the bird flailing his arms like most people do, he just hit a ball at the bird. Guess what, hole-in-waterfowl!

Apparently, not everybody is willing to let Tripp Isenhour slink back into obscurity after he accidentally* killed an endangered red-shouldered hawk while filming an instructional video on how to kill endangered red-shouldered hawks (with just a bag of golf balls and a 7-iron!).

Isenhour told Golf.com that he has been receiving threats and was given additional security while playing in the Shell Houston Open.

This is certainly different, but [playing] is very therapeutic," said Isenhour, who shot rounds of 74 and 72 (two over par) in his first start since the incident became public in March. "My peers have been very supportive this week." Isenhour declined to go into specifics about the threats, saying, "I've been advised legally not to say anything now, but I'm looking forward to the whole story coming out."

For as lame as Isenhour is for intentionally killing an endangered bird, making anonymous threats is infinitely lamer. (Just in case you were wondering where I stood on the issue.)

Because the PGA doesn't publicize such things, it's not known if Isenhour was fined, but you'd have to think murder is a little more costly than dropping f-bombs.

* unmistakably on purpose

Previously on FanHouse
PGA Golfer Kills Hawk, Says He Loves Cats
Humane Society Wants PGA Tour to 'Take Action' Against Bird-Murdering Golfer

Pro golfer Tripp Isenhour, who's now more famous for intentionally firing golf balls at an endangered red-shouldered hawk than he ever what for anything he accomplished on the course (that didn't involve intentionally firing golf balls at endangered red-shouldered hawks), now finds himself in the crosshairs of the Humane Society. The president of Humane Society wrote the PGA of America asking for action against Isenhour, who killed the hawk after a particularly well-struck driver from 75 yards.

One problem: PGA of America doesn't have jurisdiction over the Nationwide Tour where Isenhour, until recently, toiled away in anonymity. That would be the PGA Tour's job. No biggie, though; the Humane Society sent Tim Finchem a letter too.

Isenhour could face a maximum penalty of 14 months in jail and $1,500 in fines if convicted of the charges. Although the Humane Society would like to see the PGA Tour take action, they're not commenting just yet. Well, other than to offer this:

"Obviously, any set of facts which involve an individual hitting a golf ball at a living target is clearly inappropriate behavior," said Ty Votaw, PGA Tour executive vice president. "Tripp has publicly apologized and has expressed remorse and regret about his actions. We find this entire incident regrettable and unfortunate."

Yes, I'd say living targets are generally frowned upon in non-combat situations, which, I think, usually include golf courses. If there's any good news to come out of this, it's this: Rory Sabbatini is no longer the world's most hated golfer.

Yesterday, PGA Tour Player, Tripp Isenhour was charged with animal cruelty and killing a migratory species when he killed a hawk with a golf shot. He was filming a segment called "Shoot Like A Pro," and the bird was making noises causing him to have to re-shoot parts of the video.

He claims he was just trying to scare the bird away, but prosecutors believe it was intentional. He claims that he's an animal lover, has adopted three cats from shelters, and was horrified when he hit the bird. At least one member of the crew thought he was behaving irresponsibly:

"He just kept saying how he didn't think he could have hit it, which I think is a stupid thing for a PGA Tour golfer to say," said Jethro Senger, a sound engineer at the shoot. "He can put a ball in a hole from hundreds of yards away, and here he is hitting line drives at something that's, I don't know, a couple hundred feet away?"

Senger says there was no video of the hawk killing. So because blog readers demand video, above is a very short YouTube of the infamous Randy Johnson exploding bird pitch. An unintentional killing, of course.
Sorry, No Photos