The US Senior Open is not a place where you would expect to see a heated argument, but that’s exactly what happened with former major winner Padraig Harrington and longtime NBC golf reporter Roger Maltbie.
Although Maltbie was sat down by NBC from his full-time role, he still makes occasional appearances for the network including for this week’s coverage of one of the most prestigious Champions Tour events on the calendar.
A video captured showed the player and reporter having an animated exchange of ideas. From the sounds of the video and what can be made out, it seems as though Harrington was upset with Maltbie for standing by and not helping someone in his group search for a lost ball.
Maltbie clearly disagreed with that assessment, saying that he wasn’t a player and it wasn’t his responsibility, even taking a step towards Harrington multiple times to state his case.
Harrington kept coming back to Maltbie’s experience in the game, which is true. While most golf fans only know Roger Maltbie as an on-course reporter, he was a five-time winner on the PGA Tour and finished T4 in the 1987 Masters.
You can understand where both sides are coming from. Padraig Harrington is making the case that it’s proper golfing etiquette for everyone to help search for a lost ball given the extreme stroke and distance penalty associated with not being able to find it. But from the side of Roger Maltbie, he’s not in the competition and is there as a reporter. So him aiding in the search might be an unfair advantage to groups that don’t have an on-course reporter along with them.
We know things are fractured in the golf world with the ongoing split between the PGA Tour and LIV not close to being solved, but we never knew things were this tense where two popular figures in the game were close to breaking out in fisticuffs over a lost ball. At least it’s not affecting Harrington’s game as he sits tied for the lead after the second round.