It was one of the more bizarre sights ever witnessed at the close of a golf tournament was the sight of champagne spraying Canadian golfer Adam Hadwin being crash tackled by a over zealous security guard while helping celebrate the win by new RBC Canadian Open champ, Nick Taylor.
Hadwin, winner of the 2017 Valsapar Championship and who finished T11th on Sunday, was among a handful of Canadian golfers, including 2024 Presidents Cup captain, Mike Weir along with Corey Conners and Roger Sloan who had showered and changed into normal clothing following the close of their own rounds in the championship in Toronto.
However, when Taylor birdied his closing two holes in regulation play, and was then joined atop of the board by England’s Tommy Fleetwood, it was a call for all Canadian golfers and caddies being on hand to lend support to Taylor in the play-off.
Taylor, 35, was looking to become the first Canadian since 1969 and also a first Canadian-born golfer since 1914 to win his own national open.
The predicted rain had held off during regulation play but as soon as the play-off began, the umbrellas appeared and with those Canadians out to support Taylor, and including Hadwin, decked out mostly in ‘hoodies’ in the much cooler conditions.
Taylor secured a third PGA Tour triumph in the most sensational manner, holing a curling left-to-right 72-foot putt for an eagle ‘3’ at the fourth extra hole, a putt that sent the crowd into wild celebration.
Hadwin was clearly confident Taylor would succeed because as soon as Taylor’s winning putt dropped Hadwin produced a bottle of Moet & Chandon, and jubliantly sprinted towards Taylor only to be stunningly stopped in his tracks by a clearly over-the-top security guard thinking he was a member of the public.
As mentioned, this sight of a champagne spraying Hadwin being crash-tackled on the victory green, as Taylor embraced his caddy, will go down as one of the all-time more bizarre sites on the PGA Tour. Indeed, Taylor’s caddy and fellow Canadian, Dave Markle who has known Taylor since he was 15-years old, broke from the embrace and rushed to where Hadwin was lying on his back, with a security guard restricting the golfer.
Thankfully, common sense prevailed and Hadwin was brought to his feet and with other security guards speaking to their colleague ‘Hey buddy? You’ve got the wrong guy’.
Hadwin’s wife, Jessica saw the hilarious side of what unfolded, tweeting: “Sorry to leave y’all hanging, had to get the toddler ready for bed. I’m thrilled to report that @ahadwingolf is still among the land of the living and in true Canadian form, apologized to the security guard for being tackled.”
The incident then led Kevin Blue, who is Chief Sport Officer with Golf Canada, to tweet the bottle of champers and with a half-joking message.
This is the bottle, and it’s going in the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame. pic.twitter.com/Lj78605taL
— Kevin Blue, Ph.D. (@kevinablue) June 12, 2023
However, Hadwin had other ideas and suggesting on Twitter where the photograph of him being flattened should go on display.
Put it in the Louvre! pic.twitter.com/ucQUqRhsM1
— adam hadwin (@ahadwingolf) June 12, 2023
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