When I think of golf fans I think of well-behaved older gentlemen who enjoy the beauty of a difficult sport. At least I used to. Now I think of drunk idiots who try to start fights with caddies.

Seems we missed some good stuff after work yesterday. From our buddy, Sobel’s live-blog:

7:01 p.m.: On-course spy report from Trigger … serious one:

After tee shots on the ninth hole, Adam Scott’s caddie [Tony Navarro] was last one up the fairway. A heckler who had been riding him for a few holes said something that put him over the top, and Scott’s caddie started after the fan. He was restrained and cops forcibly subdued the fan. Could see the skirmish from across fairway but this is what marshals said happened. They said it looked like Scott’s caddie would have gone into crowd if not restrained.

This is coming thirdhand, from a marshal on the course through another source, but pretty crazy stuff.

The story turned out to be completely true. Who says you can’t trust Sting fans? From AFP:

“The son and father were heckling the group,” Christman said. “The caddie went under the ropes to engage them.”

Police arrested Thomas Campbell, 38, and his 62-year-old father Thomas W. Campbell for being drunk in public.

Christman said none of the combatants were injured in the brief altercation. But two female officers who stepped in to restrain the younger Campbell suffered minor injuries when he resisted.

Talk about a possible Father’s Day tradition! Skip work the Friday before Father’s Day, go to a golf course, get into an altercation with a caddy and get beat down by a couple female cops. Talk about a bonding experience.

The San Diego Union-Tribune has more details:

After hearing a fan verbally abuse him and his golfer, Scott, caddie Tony Navarro charged the ropes that keep fans off the course, went under the ropes with his bag on his back and head-butted or chest-butted the younger Campbell, knocking his cap off. The two wrestled, and the younger Campbell took a punch at Navarro, but missed, according to Lt. Dan Christman of the San Diego Police Department. Mickelson’s caddie, Jim Mackay, also went through the ropes to help Navarro and could be heard yelling, “Where are the cops?”

Reports that Tony Navarro has been offered a job at Big Black Security are unconfirmed.

[Golf.com]