A Canadian pro golfer celebrating his fellow countryman’s victory in the Canadian Open ended up being tackled to the ground by security who mistook him for a fan. Adam Hadwin was celebrating Nick Taylor’s incredible 72-foot eagle putt that won the latter the title.
Everyone saw the funny side of the entire sequence of events with Hadwin seen laughing with the security guard after getting back up. His wife Jessica even said that he apologised to the guard despite being the one tackled. “I’m thrilled to report that (Hadwin) is still among the land of the living and in true Canadian form, apologized to the security guard for being tackled,” she said in a tweet.
Taylor tossed his putter into the air and jumped into the arms of caddie Dave Markle after he made a 72-foot eagle putt to become the first Canadian in 69 years to win his national open, and he doesn’t remember any of it. “I blacked out when that ball went in with Dave. So I’m curious to watch that, what we did,” Taylor said.
Taylor delivered a signature moment in Canadian sports when his uphill, left-to-right-breaking putt — the longest made putt of his PGA Tour career — hit the flagstick and dropped on the fourth hole of a playoff against Tommy Fleetwood for the RBC Canadian Open title.
“It’s a tournament that we’ve circled on our calendar since probably junior golf,” Taylor said. “To kind of break that curse, if you want to call it, is — I’m pretty speechless. I don’t think it’s going to sink in for quite some time what happened today.”
Hadwin was not the only player to run out to celebrate, Mike Weir and Corey Connors also ran onto the green to congratylate Taylor. “I’ve looked up to Mike Weir and watched him play golf for so long, and for him to be there was special,” Taylor said.
The last player from Canada to win the Canadian Open was Pat Fletcher in 1954 at Point Grey in Vancouver. Fletcher was born in England; Carl Keffer had been the only Canadian-born champion, winning in 1909 and 1914. Weir lost a playoff to Vijay Singh in 2004.
