‘Learned my lesson’: Why this pro thought twice about celebrating at the WM Phoenix Open
When Nick Taylor won last year, Adam Hadwin was one of the first to celebrate with him. This year? Not so much.
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There are about a half dozen Canadian pros on the PGA Tour, and they are a tight-knit bunch. That much was evident at last summer’s RBC Canadian Open, when Nick Taylor became the first Canadian to win their country’s national open since 1954.
Taylor drained a 72-footer for eagle on the fourth playoff hole at Oakdale Golf and Country Club to beat Tommy Fleetwood and win last June, and when the unlikely winning putt dropped the celebration was on. Some Canadian pros were among those who stormed the green, but one — Adam Hadwin, wearing jeans, a hoodie and black hat — wasn’t dressed in his typical golf gear and apparently blended in well with the spectators. A security guard must have thought so too, as he tackled Hadwin to the ground.
Hadwin has been a good sport about the incident, and it was even motivation for his family’s Halloween costumes.
He’s also apparently learned from it, too. Fast forward to Sunday at the WM Phoenix Open, and Taylor was closing in on his fourth career PGA Tour victory. He shot a final-round 65 and then went birdie-birdie in a playoff to beat Charley Hoffman.
Hadwin was spotted near the green waiting to see if Taylor could close it out (in an outfit similar to what he wore at the RBC Canadian Open), but he didn’t rush the green with Champagne like he did last summer.
“No, not this time,” Hadwin said. “I learned my lesson.”
“It was reminiscent of the Canadian Open a little bit,” Taylor said afterward. “A lot of snowbirds down here, a lot of people come down to this tournament that I know, even on the West Coast and all over Canada. The support was incredible. It was pretty fun to be around, so it was fun all week.”
As for Hadwin?
“He dodged security this time,” Taylor said, “so it’s good.”
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