Rory McIlroy giving it back to the US fans in October's Ryder Cup was one of the highlights of the competition.
It made for great TV, as McIlroy was playing some outstanding golf and riling up the fans that were booing him around the course, but as always, one guy with a bit too much Dutch courage took it too far.
A personal insult said directly to Rory as he walked passed saw the Ulsterman needing to restrain himself from jumping in and giving him more than just a piece of his mind, and that is exactly what Padraig Harrington, trailing roughly 10 feet behind McIlroy as part of his vice-captain duties, thought was going to happen.
Speaking to Independent.ie, Harrington revealed his thought process as he saw what was unfolding up ahead.
The Dubliner was preparing himself for the possibility of having to jump into a scrap, something he was ready to do even if he was unwilling.
I wasn't trying to be there (too close), so I was about ten yards behind him when the incident happened with the other guy. Rory was genuinely going in over the ropes.
We wouldn't be used to this, but it's a team event, so all I was thinking about was 'I'm going to have to wade in with him.' That's all I'm thinking about. If there's a second or third fella... I wasn't close enough to give him the pull-back.
I'm trying to catch up from ten yards away. I'm thinking 'oh no, don't go in, I'm going to have to go in too'.
It just goes to show what a team means. If that was an individual tournament, I think I might have been pulling out my phone and videoing it. But in a team event...
That last line is fantastic.
It would have made for some sight, Harrington and McIlroy forming a tag-team as it were and lamping a bunch of boozed up golf fans, but Rory's ability to remain focused on the task at hand kept that from happening.
But Harrington was ready. Like that one friend who always seems attract the ire of drunken idiots, it's funny to see that those moments also pop up in golf, and are not exclusive to Harcourt Street in the wee hours of Sunday morning.
