PGA Tour star makes very classy gesture after Rory McIlroy criticism | Golf | Sport

Adam Hadwin is back in the PGA Tour’s good graces after his angry incident at the Valspar Championship. Frustrations got the better of him at Innisbrook before missing the cut, as he slammed his club into the ground near the green.

Following a double-bogey that left Hadwin three-over par and almost certain to miss the cut, the 2017 champion was met by a hidden adversary. Unfortunately for the Canadian player, he hit the top of a sprinkler head and turned on the device. Footage on social media captured Hadwin trying to deactivate the sprinkler, to little success, before an expert came to stop the water flowing.

However, a red-faced Hadwin has since returned to the course and the resort’s director of agronomy Ryan Stewart shared that the golfer stopped by to pay for the staff’s lunch and reimburse them for the sprinkler.

He wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter): “A big thank you to Adam Hadwin for paying for that sprinkler head and buying our staff lunch. That was a great touch and our staff loved it. Thank you again.”

Hadwin and his wife Jessica appeared to buy Chipotle for the course employees, with stations set up to create their own bowls and wraps as a form of apology. They also purchased another sprinkler head.

It had been a week full of incidents at Valspar, as Patton Kizzire earlier kicked his putter and launched it across the green following a missed putt. He withdrew from the tournament shortly after, surrounded by widescale criticism, including from Rory McIlroy.

“It can be relatable, but at the same time, you want to try to set a proper example,” McIlroy said of recent incidents before the Houston Open. “Like you don’t want — you don’t want 10-year-old kids punting their putters across the green every time they miss a putt.

“But at the same time, it does show that we are human, and it shows the human side to ourselves. But at the same time, we have a responsibility to set an example, and golf is a lot about the etiquette of the game and doing the right thing. There’s a balance to be struck there.”

Kizzire has since apologised for the incident and the world No. 134 has vowed to improve his behaviour on the course.

“I wasn’t feeling well, and I certainly lost my cool,” he wrote on social media. “It wasn’t my putter’s fault; I just lost my cool and it’s unacceptable. I’m looking forward to being a better version of myself and I appreciate you guys understanding.”