Security guard mistakenly tackles golf pro to the ground as Nick Taylor celebrates Canadian Open win

Nick Taylor’s champagne shower at the Canadian Open turned into a dramatic tackle as a security guard mistakenly slammed a fellow golf star to the ground on Sunday night.

The scene unfolded as Taylor’s 72-foot eagle putt dropped to win the RBC Canadian Open at Oakdale Golf and Country Club in Toronto.

The 35-year-old from Abbotsford, B.C., emotionally wrapped his arms around caddy David Markle as he broke the 69-year drought since a Canadian won the Canadian Open.

That’s when golf pro Adam Hadwin charged the green and shook a bottle of champagne in his friend’s direction to celebrate the historic moment.

But as he inched closer, a security guard swiftly tackled him to the ground, pinning him down on the course as half a dozen PGA officials swarmed the scene.

Canadian professional golfer Adam Hadwin, lower right, is stopped by a security guard while he tries to celebrates with Nick Taylor, left, of Canada, after Taylor won the Canadian Open championship on the fourth playoff hole against Tommy Fleetwood, of Southport, U.K., in Toronto on Sunday, June 11, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

Markle broke from his embrace with Taylor and ran towards the chaos, along with a handful of others, to clear up the misunderstanding. Seconds later, the security guard pulled Hadwin back to an upright position and apologetically patted him on the back.

“According to what I saw, he got a nice tackle there. I hope he’s alright,” Taylor said, grinning as he spoke to reporters after his win.

“He was upright when I saw him later so I hope he doesn’t wake up tomorrow morning with any broken ribs or anything.”

Hadwin’s wife Jessica joked on Twitter that her husband was still “among the land of the living and in true Canadian form, apologized to the security guard for being tackled.”

Hadwin’s profile photo on Twitter was promptly changed to an image of the tackle with a frame labelling it as a “Canadian Heritage Moment.”

Chief Sport Officer of Golf Canada Kevin Blue followed with a post of the Moët & Chandon bottle of champagne paired with the caption, “This is the bottle, and it’s going in the Canadian Golf Hall of Fame.”

TAYLOR FIRST CANADIAN TO WIN SINCE 1954

The last Canadian to win the Canadian Open was Pat Fletcher in 1954.

Taylor’s putt on the eighteenth hole put an end to a four-hole playoff with England’s Tommy Fleetwood after the two tied at 17-under after 72 holes to top the leaderboard.

Up until that point, both players birdied the first playoff hole and then picked up consecutive pars.

“To break that curse, if you want to call it that is … I’m pretty speechless,” Taylor said. “I don’t think it’s going to sink in for quite some time.”

With files from the Canadian Press