On any other afternoon at any other tournament, Adam Hadwin’s seventh hole would have provided the most surreal scene of the day. However, during the second round of the PGA Championship, it was just another hole.
After losing his club to the waters of Kentucky’s Valhalla Golf Club on Friday, the Canadian golfer watched as an enthusiastic fan took the plunge to retrieve it for him.
Amid an entertained audience of players, caddies, and staff, broadcast images showed the spectator stripping down to his underwear and socks before wading a short distance to recover the club.
Emerging from the lake to applause and a hand up from Hadwin, the fan was promptly given a towel to dry off before play resumed. Despite the help, there was no happy ending for Hadwin on that hole, as he went on to make a bogey on the par-five.
Hadwin’s wife, Jessica, took to social media to make light of the situation. Responding to a video of the incident on X, she contrasted the bizarre scenes with the “chill little kid-free weekend” she had anticipated in Louisville.
A one-over-par 72 was enough to see Hadwin through to the weekend at two-under par overall, ten strokes behind leader Xander Schauffele.
How exactly the club ended up in the lake remains unclear, but Hadwin has a history of such incidents. At The Players Championship in March, the 36-year-old vented his frustration by hurling his 8-iron into the water after finding it for the first time in his career at “the fifth major.”
Hadwin also has a knack for finding himself in odd situations. At last year’s Canadian Open, the world No. 51 was mistakenly tackled by a security guard while celebrating his friend Nick Taylor’s victory.
Yet even he might not have experienced anything as surreal as what happened to world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler on Friday. The tournament favorite was arrested, charged with felony assault, and released from jail before stepping up to the tee.
Scheffler received a rousing reception before finishing with an impressive 66, capping a day where some fans wore t-shirts featuring his mugshot taken earlier that morning.
“The fans were tremendous today. I felt like they were cheering extra loud for me,” Scheffler told reporters.
“I’ve kept myself in the tournament now with a pretty chaotic day,” he added. “So I’m going to go from here, focus on rest and recovery, and get ready for the grind over the last two days.”
Once again, Hadwin’s wife Jessica lightened the mood, comparing the experiences of Scheffler and her husband.
“There’s only one logical next step after this latest incident,” she wrote on X.
“Have you been wrongfully arrested and/or tackled while at your job as a professional golfer? You might be entitled to compensation.”
