When they’re not in their usual uniform—polo shirt, pants, logoed hat, sunglasses, etc.—just about any tour pro not named Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson can blend in anywhere, which is a good thing. Adam Hadwin is likely wishing the opposite was true after he was mistaken for a law-breaking fan on Sunday at the RBC Canadian Open.
Hadwin, who was born in Moose Jaw, was one of many Canadian tour pros out watching the epic playoff between Tommy Fleetwood and Canada’s own Nick Taylor. On the fourth hole of sudden death, the par-5 18th, Taylor finally ended it with a ridiculously long eagle conversion, sending the Canadian crowd into a frenzy at Oakdale Golf & Country Club.
Taylor’s victory was the first by a Canadian in the Canadian Open since 1954, so you’ll have to forgive our friends up North for going as batsh-t crazy as they did. Among the chaos was Hadwin, who ran out onto the green spraying champagne in Taylor’s direction in celebration. Apparently, security had no idea that Hadwin was a fellow tour pro, a fellow Canuck and a friend to Taylor, with one guard mistaking him for a law-breaking fan and FLATTENING him Terry Tate office linebacker style:
Security is TOIGHT at the Canadian Open 😩 pic.twitter.com/6cS38bQiYk
— Kayla Grey (@Kayla_Grey) June 11, 2023
Usually it’s only Hadwin’s own wife, Jessica, who is clocking him from his blindside like that (on Twitter, that is).
All kidding aside, my goodness, what a scene. Hopefully, Hadwin is OK, so he (and we) can laugh it off. Because it’s one of the funnier situations we’ve ever witnessed. Only in golf could a legit PGA Tour pro look so unathletic in plain clothes that he gets mixed up for a fan who got under the ropes and started to cause a scene. What an absolutely ridiculous sport.
UPDATE: We have an alternate angle of Hadwin getting driven into the ground by a security guard, and it shows him hanging on to that champagne bottle for dear life:
Adam Hadwin getting tackled by security (they thought he was a fan).
— Lou Stagner (Golf Stat Pro) (@LouStagner) June 12, 2023
Cripes, Hadwin is lucky he didn’t get hurt. That would have been poor timing with the U.S. Open at LACC on tap this week. Good news is, it appears all is well. Here’s what Hadwin tweeted long after the celebration began:
Words cannot describe the magnitude of what you just accomplished. So proud of you @ntaylorgolf59!
— adam hadwin (@ahadwingolf) June 12, 2023
And yes, Jessica did eventually weigh in, revealing that her husband pulled the most Canadian move of all time after getting run over:
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.
— Jessica Hadwin (@jessicahadwin) June 12, 2023
The word “sorrey!” was uttered at least 100 times during this entire exchange. Peak Canada. Taylor, who had a front-row seat, also explained his view of the situation.
“Corner of my eye I saw he got a nice tackle there,” he said. “I hope he’s all right. He was upright when I saw him later. So I hope he doesn’t wake up tomorrow morning with any broken ribs or anything.”
UPDATE: The “hits,” if you will, just keep on coming. Check out this cinema slow-mo version of the tackle heard round the (golf) world.
What happens when you chirp @jessicahadwin on Twitter…
(Sorry @ahadwingolf) pic.twitter.com/1Vs6YqM70Q
— RBC Canadian Open (@RBCCanadianOpen) June 12, 2023