Nick Taylor’s RBC Canadian Open win on June 10 will be remembered for more than the incredible 72-foot eagle he earned on the fourth hole.
As Taylor made his shot, the quiet crowd first exclaimed, then roared in amazement. With a seemingly impossible sink, Nick Taylor became the first Canadian winner of the Open since Pat Fletcher in 1954.
Taylor was immediately surrounded by well-wishers, but it was one in particular that caught security’s notice.
In a video posted on Twitter by Nuclr Golf, a man with a spraying bottle of champagne can be seen running up to Taylor on the green. He never makes his destination, as he’s quickly tackled by security. The champagne-bearing man was none other than Adam Hadwin, a professional golfer in his own right and a friend of Taylors’.
Hadwin’s identity was soon cleared up, and the four security guards helped him up from the field. Hadwin quickly saw the humor in the event, changing his Twitter profile photo to a close-up still of the tackle. He captioned the Tweet “Put it in the Lourve!”
According to ESPN, Hadwin wants to keep the focus on his friend’s win.
“The moment itself and what Nick accomplished was amazing,” Hadwin said. “I definitely did not want to be a part of what transpired after that, but it’s been a lot of fun reading through and seeing what people have to say. We can have a good laugh about it now. Just a big misunderstanding.”
Taylor also made light of the event, according to CNN.
“Corner of my eye, I saw he got a nice tackle there,” Taylor 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 broken ribs or anything,”
Taylor’s win not only secured his place in Canadian gold history and advanced him 15 places to the 44th player in the world ranking, he won $1.62 million in prize money. It’s a career and life-changing victory Taylor still hasn’t quite come to grips with.
“I think it’s a tournament that we’ve circled on our calendar since probably junior golf,” Taylor said. “Ever since I’ve been on the PHA tour this is one that we want to do as well as we can in, and the crowd support was the most unbelievable thing I will probably ever experience in my life. I don’t think it’s going to sink in for quite some time what happened today.”
Taylor is next slotted to play a tournament at the Los Angeles Country Club from June 15-18.
