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Reuters

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Reuters

It is not rare to witness golfers missing fairways during the round, but almost hitting the ones around them is even rarer. Earlier in 2024, Jeff Guan was left injured while playing at a Pro-Am event. But now, after a year, with the ongoing DP World Tour’s Irish Open, commentators were left with almost the same scenario. Interestingly, the commentators dropped an embarrassing but humorous dig at the professional golfer.

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Today, the DP World Tour shared a video of the incident on social media, showing Iona Stephen and Paul McGinley escaping a life-and-death situation. Stephen, when speaking about

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Rory McIlroy, suddenly ducked in panic. Further, she shared that the ball was coming at them. However, the golfer apologized for his act, as she gave a hilarious reaction to that moment.

She said, “Don’t worry, we forgive you. But you’re meant to be a pro.” The duo then continued to laugh at the comment made by the Sky Sports host. However, in the comments section of the post, the golfer came to light as he apologized, taking the blame. Ricardo Melo Gouvia, the Portuguese professional, took the blame and commented, “I take the blame! Sorry @ionastephen @paulmcginley14 😅.”

With seven professional wins in his career, the golfer is known for his consistency. Still, now, with the miss-hit, it brought him unexpected humor and the consequence of almost hitting the golf commentators. In fact, the golf world appreciated the quick words from Stephen.

After the apology in the comment section, fans joined in praise as one wrote, “Hilarious 😂 sharp reply @ionastephen always on it 👏.” While another joined writing, “Hilarious 😂 sharp reply @ionastephen always on it 👏.” Well, golfers rarely miss hits ending up towards the fans or commentators, but what Iona Stephen has done with her words is even rarer. She barely took a second to continue speaking after ducking the ball. The fact that Gouvia understood the humorous and light-hearted nature of the dig from Iona Stephen made the whole episode pretty wholesome for the fans.

In a similar incident from April 2025, Billy Horschel’s reaction afterwards turned it into something memorable for the fans with his apology and gesture.

Billy Horschel, after his “awful” mistake, did an unexpected apology

During the RBC Heritage at Harbor Town Golf Links on April 17, 2025, Horschel’s shot on Par-4 10th took an unfortunate turn. The ball left the fairway and landed on a female spectator’s shin. That must have been painful. The ball ricocheted off her leg and back onto the fairway, leaving her with a massive welt.

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After realizing what happened, he went into action, not just apologizing but with his unique style. Horschel created a tattoo on the injured fan’s shin just below the injury. After the apology, the golfer signed on her leg and laughed it off with a sweet hug. Well, not just that, as he apologized for his mistake afterwards. Following the round conclusion, he said, “She handled it like a legend. I felt awful, but she was laughing about it. Signing her leg? Definitely a first.”

Though the golfer did everything on his part to avoid the mistake, it left the golf world with a memorable and funny memory. These moments of a ball landing near fans or commentators are rare, but will definitely be remembered for a lifetime.

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Tanmay Sharma

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Tanmay Sharma is a Golf Journalist at EssentiallySports, where he has already penned more than 650 stories across the Live News and Trends desks. A graduate in Communication from Bennett University (Times Group), he brings a newsroom-honed precision to his live weekend coverage of golf’s biggest stages. Tanmay played an instrumental role in shaping ES’ digital-first golf section, balancing real-time leaderboard updates with a thoughtful lens on what those moments mean in the sport’s broader arc. An eight-year veteran of the content and media industry, Tanmay has worked across journalism, marketing, and editorial strategy, sharpening a versatility that now powers his golf storytelling. A lifelong golf fan, he thrives on digging into the untold, off-course narratives that reveal the human side of the game, stories of grind, setbacks, and resilience that numbers on a scorecard can’t capture. Whether in the heat of a major Sunday finish or while chronicling the rise of tomorrow’s stars, Tanmay connects fans to the heartbeat of golf with clarity and empathy.

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Irfan Kabeer

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