Padraig Harrington fumes in heated run-in at senior major

Padraig Harrington was left fizzing after his second round at the US Senior Open, despite holding a share of the lead.

A three-under-par 67 moved the Irishman to six-under-par and alongside Stewart Cink and Mark Hensby at Broadmoor Golf Club.

But there was one moment on Friday that didn’t sit right with the two-time Open champ.

Harrington was playing alongside American pair Cink and Justin Leonard when one of the group members lost a ball in the rough.

The 53-year-old then became disgruntled after NBC on-course analyst Roger Maltbie seemingly didn’t help search for the ball.

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And Harrington made his feelings clear towards Maltbie after the round, with a video of an altercation between the pair doing the rounds on social media.

You can watch it here.

Video from the US Senior Open shows Irish pro Padraig Harrington going at it with NBC on-course analyst Roger Maltbie.

Sounds like Harrington, who’s tied for first, wasn’t happy with where Maltbie stood. But Maltbie wasn’t having it either.

Maltbie is a pro golfer himself pic.twitter.com/uIavlRbUfw

— Brett Forrest (@brettforrestTV) June 27, 2025

“Never on a golf course stand and look at somebody looking for a golf ball,” Harrington can be heard saying in the video, to which Maltbie replies: “That’s a hard position to take.”

Harrington continues: “You’ve played golf all your life. You understand. You don’t stand looking at somebody looking for a golf ball.

“You’ve played golf for 40 years; you don’t just stand there looking.”

After Harrington’s caddie Ronan Flood attempted to step in and defuse the situation, the pair chimed in one more time.

“I’m not a player,” Maltbie exclaims. Harrington says: “You’ve told me you’ve looked for hundreds of golf balls.”

Eventually, Flood separates the pair, and they go their separate ways.

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To Harrington’s point, Maltbie, 73, had plenty of experience on the PGA Tour. He teed it up on the circuit for over 20 years, winning five times, before switching to broadcasting in 1991.

Should the Dubliner go on to win, it would be his second US Senior Open title.

Harrington, who won the event and his maiden senior major in 2022, is looking for a second after finishing T2 at the Senior PGA Championship in May.

“Most of Thursday and Friday is jockeying for position, keeping yourself in the tournament, trying not to lose the tournament,” he said afterwards.

“But after the start I had today, I could have got some daylight between myself and the field and got out there.

“I just have to go and do it all again the next two days.”

John Turnbull A graduate of the University of Stirling, John joined the bunkered team in 2023 as a Content Producer, with a responsibility for covering all breaking news, tour news, grassroots content and much more besides. A keen golfer, he plays the majority of his golf at Falkirk Tryst Golf Club. Top of his 'bucket list' is a round of Pebble Beach... ideally in the company of Gareth Bale.