In what was arguably the most viral golf moment of 2023, Adam Hadwin was flattened by a security guard as he tried to rush the 18th green in the aftermath of Nick Taylor’s dramatic win at the RBC Canadian Open. Now a year later, the man behind that famous tackle is finally talking. And he characterized the hit as a “soft takedown.”
Deion Sanders certainly never hit anyone that hard in the NFL. Anyway, the security guard is back for this year’s tournament and TSN’s Bob Weeks did a great job of tracking him down.
But this guy still doesn’t want any attention so he went by the name “Mr. X” for the story. According to TSN, the man does security at a bunch of big sporting events and concerts in Canada and, “His superiors laud his work ethic, and he often gets the toughest jobs, such as on the 18th hole at last year’s tournament.”
That 18th hole erupted like few events in the country’s history as Taylor sunk a 72-hole eagle putt to end the Canadians’ 69-year drought in their national open.
“I was on the other side of Nick and his caddie,” Mr. X told TSN, “which meant I had to come around him. There were a lot of people moving and I saw this person heading directly towards Nick. I saw it as if it was in slow motion, this guy coming towards Nick with a bottle and no credentials.”
“It was a soft takedown,” Mr. X added with a laugh. “His feet never left the ground.”
Hadwin might beg to differ with that. Anyway, the two were entangled on the ground for just a few seconds before Taylor’s caddie, David Markle, and tournament director Bryan Crawford came over.
“It was over quickly,” Mr. X said. “We got up and laughed, said sorry to each other, and it was all over.”
While Mr. X has stayed out of the limelight, Hadwin has spent the last year hearing about the incident from fans, fellow players, and his wife. TSN reported that the golfer spotted Mr. X while leaving the course on Tuesday and got him to take a photo with him.
“I’ve learned my lesson,” Hadwin said in an interview earlier this year. “I’ll be wearing my credential from now on.”
