BERWICK, SCOTLAND - JULY 07: Rory McIlroy (L) is pictured playing with Celtic owner Dermot Desmond during the abrdn Scottish Open practice day at the Renaissance Club on July 07, 2021, in Berwick, Scotland. (Photo by Ross Parker/SNS Group via Getty Images)
Dermot Desmond appears to have been subjected to a protest during the Dunhill Cup at St Andrews.
The veteran Celtic director was taking part in the Team Event with three his sons Brett, Dery and Ross also involved.
Played over three courses the celebrity/ rich guys are paired up with a different golfer each day.
In 2024 Desmond won the Team event but sitting in joint 135th place after two rounds there is no chance of a repeat this year. As a consolation Dermot was still ahead of sons Ross and Dery.
One Twitter reported that there was a golf ball protest against Celtic’s largest individual shareholder during his third round.
Crazy scenes at Dunhill Cup in St Andrews, group of guys with balaclavas ran up to the edge of the course and lobbed tennis balls at Dermot Desmond on the 15th hole. pic.twitter.com/w9b1Wb7Al3
— Natalie Lafferty (@nlafferty) October 3, 2026
BACKGROUND TO THE DESMOND PROTESTS
Despite technically being ‘only’ a Non Executive Director it seems fairly obvious that the wealthy Irishman wields power at Celtic.
Martin O’Neill referenced phone calls from Desmond last season when he was twice drafted in as Interim manager.
After winning the Scottish Cup Final in May O’Neill mentioned his plan to speak to the owner before deciding on his future.
Desmond rarely attends Celtic matches, appearances at the AGM are even rarer. His last AGM appearance was in 2006 when Gordon Strachan was manager.
So far this season the only competitive match that Desmond has attended was the 5-1 Champions League defeat away to LASK Linz.
Almost a year ago he made a telling intervention to events at the club with a blistering attack on Brendan Rodgers.
Since then Celtic have appeared to be teetering on the brink of turmoil despite securing the domestic double last season.
Celtic went into the international break on the back of three successive defeats with O’Neill admitting that he needed a period of self reflection.
The hoops are back in action a week tomorrow away to Motherwell, followed by an ominous looking Europa League tie away to Benfica.
Anyone else utterly embarrassed by this?
Honestly, been a fan since I was a kid but this shite is not a good look for the fans or the club.
Of course they’ll be them that think its funny and he deserves it….but DD is a total narcissist, and embarrassing him on a stage like that is not gonna get rid of him, in fact, whoever threw them has probably caused the opposite effect and he will dig in even more.